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I played this game after an 8-game losing streak playing after midnight! I made the mistake of thinking that I’ll win a game before going to bed, and then the combination of being tired and a bit irritable, got trapped for hours! Nonetheless, it’s all part of the adventure and without that experience, I don’t think that I would have had this game, or the high at the win!

My opponent led with the Ponziani Opening (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3) but was probably not very experienced with it. The Ponziani is a somewhat suboptimal opening, but it can be very tricky to play against. Historically, I’ve not performed well against it, so was feeling a bit apprehensive, especially this was game 9 after 8 losses!

With Black, the best way to respond against the Ponziani is to immediately take the centre with (3… d5) which is consistent with opening principles. We trade in the centre, and then White developed their bishop (5. Be2) with the aim to rapidly castle. I don’t know much if any Ponziani theory, but I knew that the strength of the Ponziani was in launching immediate threats and attacks. So, I recognised that the relatively slow and conservative approach by White was probably a mistake, and Stockfish agrees in the evaluation. This was apparently [-1.6], surprisingly bad.

The reason is that I have a strong attack with an immediate e4, attacking White’s knight and taking advantage of the fact that White has limited control of the centre. I don’t see this attack for several moves and opt to develop my dark square bishop first. White doesn’t recognise the threat either and that allows my to uncork massive pressure with (7… e4) a couple of moves later! In essence, I have a Greek gift sacrifice pending with a possible mating attack.

White attempts to counterattack my queen with their bishop, but this doesn’t work as it doesn’t defend against the Greek gift tactic, and essentially gives me a point of tempo moving the queen to an attack position on the h-file, and an immediate checkmate threat on h2. White thinks for over a minute and attempt to block the h-file with the knight. The Greek gift sacrifice is unleashed (9… Bxh2+)! The only way White can avoid checkmate is sacrificing their queen for my knight. They refuse to do this and so, hang checkmate on move 12. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is that if you play the Ponziani Opening, you need to understand the tactical ideas of that opening or else, it can end very badly.

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/85170223027

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.08.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "raj5353"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C44"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Ponziani-Opening-3...d5"]
[UTCDate "2023.08.07"]
[UTCTime "18:02:23"]
[WhiteElo "1318"]
[BlackElo "1344"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "18:02:23"]
[EndDate "2023.08.07"]
[EndTime "18:07:27"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/85170223027"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "69"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:09.2]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:08.8]} 2. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:17.5]}
2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:17.8]} 3. c3 {[%clk 0:15:24.2] Ponziani Opening [-0.2].
It's a somewhat suboptimal opening for White, but it can be very tricky.
Historically, I don't perform well against the Ponziani.} 3... d5 {[%clk
0:15:25.4] The best move and consistent with opening principles. As White has
allowed the taking of the full centre with pawns, you should do so.} 4. exd5
{[%clk 0:15:32.2]} 4... Qxd5 {[%clk 0:15:33.8]} 5. Be2 $2 {[%clk 0:15:34][%c_arrow
d2d4;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] My opponent was likely not familiar
with the Ponziani. This was a mistake [-1.6].} 5... Nf6 $2 {[%clk
0:15:34.9][%c_arrow
e5e4;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This was a relative mistake [-0.3] as
I could immediately punish White with e4 attacking the knight} 6. O-O {[%clk
0:15:39.7]} 6... Bd6 $6 {[%clk 0:15:41.5][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e5e4;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] Something to note in
this configuration - attack the knight $1 I develop my bishop by this was a
relatively inaccuracy [+0.1].} 7. b3 {[%clk 0:15:34.3][%c_arrow
d2d4;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,b3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b3;persistent;false]
Also a mistake [-1.8] - White needed to have some control of the centre} 7...
e4 $1 {[%clk 0:15:36.2][%c_effect e4;square;e4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 8.
Bc4 $4 {[%clk 0:15:12.8][%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f3e1;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false] White attempted to
counterattack with their bishop, but this is a blunder as there is a forced loss
of their knight [-5.3]} 8... Qh5 $1 {[%clk 0:14:53.6][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h5h2;keyPressed;alt;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false,d6h2;keyPressed;alt;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false,e4f3;keyPressed;alt;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,f3h2;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h2;persistent;false] The knight is forced
to defend h2 against a checkmate attack, meaning that it must be lost} 9. Nh4 $6
{[%clk 0:14:00.7][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c1a3;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false] This isn't the most
accurate move, but White has no great options [-7.8]} 9... Bxh2+ $3 {[%clk
0:14:42.5][%c_effect h2;square;h2;type;Brilliant;persistent;true] Brilliant
move $1 Greek gift sacrifice is now available with the knight no longer defending
h2} 10. Kxh2 {[%clk 0:14:06.6]} 10... Ng4+ {[%clk 0:14:35.7][%c_arrow
h5h4;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false] Arguably, Qxh4+ might
be simpler to play as White as the king is forced back to g1. With Ng4+ the king
could come forward to h3 or g3. Although these are still losing moves, it
requires more calculation by Black.} 11. Kg1 $6 {[%clk 0:14:14.7][%c_arrow
d1g4;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] White needs to trade their queen
for the knight to avoid a checkmate} 11... Qxh4 {[%clk 0:14:44.7]} 12. f3 $4
{[%clk 0:14:10.5][%c_effect f3;square;f3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1g4;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false] White's aversion to
material loss leads them to hang checkmate} 12... Qh2# {[%clk
0:14:52.1][%c_effect e8;square;e8;type;Winner,g1;square;g1;type;CheckmateWhite]}
0-1