---

chess noob Quick Wins! is a series of short videos, to demonstrate very quick wins! As a beginner, you become aware of the Scholar’s Mate and the Fool’s Mate, but neither of these show up in real games. However, there are tricky quick checkmates and wins that occur, even at the intermediate level of chess.

Today’s game is meme territory! My follow Chess Boot Camp member @Castiron2021 posted this game where they played the Vienna Game (I approve!) and their opponent with the Black pieces responded with the Bongcloud (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Ke7)! Although I thought of this as very weird, when I looked up the Lichess community database, this has apparently been played over 16,000 times before! 🤯

Well, according to Stockfish 15.1 NNUE at high depth, the Bongcloud variation of the Vienna has an evaluation of [+2.2]! Now you know!

I’m not entirely sure what Black was doing, but they were blitzing out moves – literally some moves were made in a second. Perhaps expectedly for someone rated in the 600s ELO, some of these moves were terrible mistakes. Move 11, @Castiron2021 delivered a rather beautiful checkmate with the Black king weirdly on the g6 square. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/80681041673

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.06.16"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Castiron2021"]
[Black "andyb36"]
[Result "1-0"]
[CurrentPosition "rn1q1bnr/pp4pp/2p2pk1/4p3/2B4N/2NPB3/PPP2PPP/R2QK2R b KQ -"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game"]
[UTCDate "2023.06.16"]
[UTCTime "19:02:40"]
[WhiteElo "647"]
[BlackElo "628"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Termination "Castiron2021 won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "19:02:40"]
[EndDate "2023.06.16"]
[EndTime "19:04:14"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/80681041673"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/128799268.bbdae627.50x50o.3f8a90f2f1eb.jpeg"]
[WhiteCountry "2"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/165408005.6e174c93.50x50o.c2f787016f13.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "162"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:10:00]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:09:59]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:09:57.7]} 2...
Ke7 $2 {[%clk 0:09:58.2][%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Mistake;persistent;true]
Vienna Game: Bongcloud [+2.2] $1 I've never previously seen a Bongcloud against
the Vienna... though bizarrely, there are 16,000 games of this variation in the
Lichess community database $1} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 0:09:52.9]} 3... d6 {[%clk
0:09:47.2]} 4. d3 $6 {[%clk 0:09:48.2][%c_arrow
g1f3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Developing the other knight is
better [+1.4]} 4... Be6 {[%clk 0:09:46]} 5. Bg5+ {[%clk 0:09:44.7]} 5... f6 $6
{[%clk 0:09:44.2][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] An inaccuracy [+1.8]}
6. Be3 {[%clk 0:09:31.8]} 6... d5 $2 {[%clk 0:09:38.7][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e6c4;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;c4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c4;persistent;false] A mistake [+3.8]} 7.
exd5 $1 {[%clk 0:09:29.2][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true]} 7... Bxd5 $2
{[%clk 0:09:37.1][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;keyPressed;undefined;persistent;true] A bit odd, but
perhaps what can be expected when a 600 ELO rated player spends 1 second before
moving... [+6.4]} 8. Nxd5+ {[%clk 0:09:27.1]} 8... Kf7 $2 {[%clk
0:09:35.1][%c_effect f7;square;f7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A really bad
move allowing a discovered check [+14]} 9. Nf3 $6 {[%clk 0:09:18.3][%c_arrow
d5f6;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] The position is so bad for Black,
White should just attack [+7.3]} 9... c6 {[%clk 0:09:33.9]} 10. Nc3+ {[%clk
0:09:12.1]} 10... Kg6 $4 {[%clk 0:09:25.9][%c_arrow
f7e8;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false][%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} 11. Nh4# {[%clk 0:09:06.3][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,g6;square;g6;type;CheckmateBlack] Nice mate $1 GG $1} 1-0