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Welcome to another episode of the “chess noob Game Review” series where the focus will be on identifying in how a game, whether I win or lose, could have been improved. This gives me an opportunity to reflect more deeply about a game and hopefully, the lessons that I draw for myself will be helpful to my fellow beginner and beginner-intermediate chess players!

In the Vienna Game, a somewhat uncommon response by Black is the conservative 2… d6, what I’ve previous called the “Philidor-ish Defense”. In that game, I called it “bad”, but it isn’t that bad! In a way, the slower conservative approach by Black can foil an aggressive approach by White. As I don’t encounter this line very frequently, I realised that I haven’t really thought through some of these positions.

White has a range of options after (2… d6). Although the immediate (3. d4) is the best move according to Stockfish and what I usually play, after the pawn trade and recapture by my queen, Black gains a tempo with a normal knight developing move and my queen is not quite in the best place, even if it can’t be attacked by anything. On move 3, there are a range of other moves that are good according to evaluation, and good according to win ratio on the Lichess community database of lower-rated games of blitz and rapid. Apart from d4, there is also:

• 3. Bd4 (moving the bishop to its natural square)
• 3. Nf3 (entering a Two Knights Italian type game – boo!)
• 3. f4 (a spicy Vienna Gambit type move that had a good win ratio), and,
• 3. g3 (a “Modern” Vienna approach that I haven’t explored much at all but is apparently quite good).

Nonetheless, I played my usual as I had these musings in game, traded pawns, and Black developed their knight with tempo as expected (3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6). Here, I knew from previous analysis that moving the to (5. Qd3) was technically best, though Qe3 and Qd1 are also fine and almost the same. Each move has some disadvantages. Qd3 places the queen at a future Nb4 attack. Qe3 blocks in the dark square bishop. Qd1 undevelops the queen. After thinking for almost a minute, I decided to try something unsound in this game, and played Qa4, pinning the knight to the king. I knew that this was probably suboptimal, and it was as Stockfish called it an inaccuracy with an evaluation of [0.00], but I wanted to see what would happen. Black deflected the attack, and I ended up trading my light square bishop for their knight, but Black ends up developing the bishop in the process. Yep, I ended up a bit worse [-0.3] so this is not a line to pursue!

As the game progressed, Black made some inaccuracies of their own. After castling long, they attempted to develop their queen. However, my pieces and position were mostly solid, and I managed to gain some tempo chasing their queen. With my queen in the field of play on the b-file, I manoeuvred the middle game towards getting my pieces into a queenside attack and potentially had some initiative. Finally, on move 18, I won a major concession with Black losing their a-pawn completely, leading to a permanent structural weakness on that side!

On move 20, I managed to skewer Black’s queen and rook along the long dark square diagonal, so now, winning a good material advantage! The tactic was now to attack the e8 square with my rooks and queen. There was a potential forced trade in pieces, which would result in an easily winning endgame for me. A few moves later (25. Re7) – rooks are powerful on the seventh (and second) ranks and in fact, I missed a [+M4]. I considered the move but didn’t calculate all the way. I stuck to my existing tactic of attacking e8 and forcing trades which worked. On move 30 (30. Qxe8+), I forced a completely winning endgame of queen vs bishop. Although I needed to be careful, Black resigned on move 36 with impending checkmate next turn. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/78198692861

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.05.19"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Philbcan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-2...d6"]
[UTCDate "2023.05.19"]
[UTCTime "01:29:44"]
[WhiteElo "1408"]
[BlackElo "1317"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "01:29:44"]
[EndDate "2023.05.19"]
[EndTime "02:00:04"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/78198692861"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[BlackCountry "2"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:29:56.6]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:29:54.6]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:29:45.9]}
2... d6 {[%clk 0:29:42.7] Vienna Game: 3... d3 [0.5]. This isn't the best
response, but also quite solid. I realised recently that I don't have a specific
way of playing against this version of the Vienna.} 3. d4 {[%clk
0:29:34.4][%c_highlight
c4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c4;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false,f4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false,g3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;g3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f1c4;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;c4;persistent;false,f2f4;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false,g1f3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,g2g3;keyPressed;none;from;g2;opacity;0.8;to;g3;persistent;false]
This is the line I usually play and Stockfish thinks that it's the best
response. However, there is some trickiness after the pawn trade and Black
develops their knight with tempo.} 3... exd4 {[%clk 0:29:13.9]} 4. Qxd4 {[%clk
0:29:30.5]} 4... Nc6 {[%clk 0:29:08.6]} 5. Qa4 $6 {[%clk 0:28:42.4][%c_arrow
d4d3;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false,d4e3;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false,d4d1;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;d1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false,e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false,d1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d1;persistent;false][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] I knew that this was probably
suboptimal [0.00] , but I decided to give this a go in this game...} 5... Bd7
{[%clk 0:28:00.5]} 6. Bb5 {[%clk 0:28:36.5]} 6... a6 {[%clk 0:27:25.6]} 7. Bxc6
{[%clk 0:28:30.8]} 7... Bxc6 {[%clk 0:27:16.8]} 8. Qb3 {[%clk 0:27:31.5] Yep,
and after that transformation, I'm a little bit worse [-0.3]} 8... Qe7 {[%clk
0:27:10.6]} 9. f3 {[%clk 0:26:56.3]} 9... O-O-O $6 {[%clk 0:26:29.6][%c_effect
c8;square;c8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f7f5;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+0.1]
as Black had the opportunity to \"place pressure on the pinned piece\"} 10. Nge2
{[%clk 0:26:30.1]} 10... Qe5 $2 {[%clk 0:25:20.8][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f7f5;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false] A mistake [+1.2] as
Black's queen has no immediate attack and can be kicked by lesser pieces, and
the f-pawn is hanging} 11. Bf4 $6 {[%clk 0:26:04.6][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish thinks that capturing
the material was best and that this was an inaccuracy [+0.5]. However, this wins
tempo, and prepares for long castles so I'm happy with this move.} 11... Qh5 $6
{[%clk 0:25:16.8][%c_effect h5;square;h5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Under
threat, Black makes an inaccurate queen move [+1.8]. Again, the queen is not
threatening anything and is now diminished by being on the side of the board.}
12. O-O-O {[%clk 0:25:17.8]} 12... Nf6 {[%clk 0:25:00.7]} 13. Nd5 $2 {[%clk
0:24:37.5][%c_arrow
e2d4;keyPressed;none;from;e2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] Stockfish thinks
that this provocative and aggressive move is a mistake [+0.1] preferring a more
careful developing move. However, I thought that Black would probably trade
knights, which should be good for me.} 13... Nxd5 $6 {[%clk 0:24:31.5][%c_arrow
c6d5;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] An inaccuracy
[+1.7] as Black should have captured first with bishop as after the sequences of
trades, the bishop is attacked...} 14. exd5 {[%clk 0:24:32.9]} 14... Bb5 $6
{[%clk 0:24:27.2][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6d7;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false] An inaccuracy as the
bishop can get attacked again with tempo [+2.4]} 15. Nd4 {[%clk 0:23:49.8]}
15... Qh4 $2 {[%clk 0:24:16.5][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake as the threat on the bishop
is too easily deflected [+4.9]} 16. g3 {[%clk 0:23:36.3]} 16... Qf6 {[%clk
0:24:00.6]} 17. Nxb5 {[%clk 0:22:55.9]} 17... axb5 {[%clk 0:23:58.1]} 18. Qxb5
{[%clk 0:22:32.3] And I win a concession in the form of the a-pawn. Black's open
a-file is now a permanent weakness [+5]} 18... g5 {[%clk 0:23:45.4]} 19. Bd2
{[%clk 0:20:47.5]} 19... Bh6 {[%clk 0:23:25.1][%c_arrow
f8g7;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+6] as
Bg7 would have been better, setting up a strong dark square diagonal battery.
Furthermore, a skewer down the dark square diagonal is now possible for me  $1}
20. Bc3 {[%clk 0:19:46.9]} 20... Qxf3 {[%clk 0:23:01.5]} 21. Bxh8 {[%clk
0:19:25.3]} 21... Rxh8 {[%clk 0:22:58.5]} 22. Kb1 {[%clk 0:18:18.2] Moving the
king out of a discovered check seems wise} 22... Qh5 {[%clk 0:22:49.8]} 23. Rhe1
{[%clk 0:17:42.4][%c_arrow
b5e8;keyPressed;ctrl;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,e1e8;keyPressed;ctrl;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,e8h8;keyPressed;ctrl;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false,e8c8;keyPressed;ctrl;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false,h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false]
Up material, my goal is now to force piece trades} 23... f6 {[%clk 0:22:37.5]
Black sees the tactic, and adds an extra defender with the queen} 24. g4 {[%clk
0:16:25.7] This pawn is a trap - if the queen is deflected from the diagonal,
it's mate} 24... Qg6 $6 {[%clk 0:22:16.6][%c_arrow
h5f7;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false][%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] However, Black isn't fooled.
However, at this point, a mating net has been woven [+M8]} ({If Black got
greedy...} 24... Qxg4 25. Re8+ Rxe8 26. Qxe8#) 25. Re7 {[%clk 0:15:05.2]} 25...
Rd8 {[%clk 0:21:05.1]} 26. Qa4 $6 {[%clk 0:14:28.6][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b5a5;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;a5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a5;persistent;false] This wasn't the
accurate move [+M11]. I saw Qa5 in the game, but didn't calculate it through. I
thought that Black might have a counter.} ({This is the most efficient way to
mate} 26. Qa5 {[%c_arrow
a5c7;keyPressed;none;from;a5;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false,a5a8;keyPressed;none;from;a5;opacity;0.8;to;a8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false,a8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a8;persistent;false]}
26... Kb8 27. Qxc7+ Ka8 28. Qxb7#) 26... Kb8 {[%clk 0:20:55.9]} 27. Rde1 {[%clk
0:13:47.2]} 27... f5 {[%clk 0:19:51.7]} 28. Re8 {[%clk 0:13:10] Forcing the
trades} 28... Rxe8 {[%clk 0:19:38.6]} 29. Rxe8+ {[%clk 0:13:01.6]} 29... Qxe8
{[%clk 0:19:35.8]} 30. Qxe8+ {[%clk 0:12:57.3]} 30... Ka7 {[%clk 0:19:32.6]} 31.
gxf5 {[%clk 0:12:45.1]} 31... g4 {[%clk 0:19:12.7]} 32. f6 {[%clk 0:12:39.9]}
32... Bf4 {[%clk 0:19:05.4]} 33. f7 {[%clk 0:12:05]} 33... Bxh2 {[%clk
0:19:00.2]} 34. f8=Q {[%clk 0:11:56.2]} 34... g3 {[%clk 0:18:47.8]} 35. Qa4+
{[%clk 0:11:51.4]} 35... Kb6 {[%clk 0:18:36.7]} 36. Qb4+ {[%clk 0:11:42.5]}
36... Ka7 {[%clk 0:18:31.8][%c_effect
b1;square;b1;type;Winner,a7;square;a7;type;ResignBlack] Black resigns with
checkmate next turn with Qa5#} 1-0