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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.

I’ve still be having some issues with chess.com matching me up with players with vastly different ratings, but this one was quite interesting. My opponent was from Nigeria and played the Zhuravlev Countergambit against my Vienna Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4), to which I played the “Giraffe-ish” Counterattack (3. Qg4)!

Black immediately traded their bishop for the knight. This isn’t good as I get to develop and open my d-file and the diagonal for my dark square bishop. On move 4, Black makes a blunder, but perhaps one that is understandable for a beginner. They played (4… f4) to defend their e-pawn, but this not only hangs their g-pawn on g7, the purpose of the “Giraffe-ish” Counterattack, but as we’ll see, it also critically weakens the light squares around the Black king. This is especially problematic as after (5. Qxg7), I’ve punched a hole in the g-file, and the immediately adjacent dark square diagonal as well.

I capture the hanging rook (6. Qxh8) and Black attempts to develop their bishop (8… Bg4), but unfortunately, this was another blunder. It’s important to look for checks, and this blunder hangs two pieces. Firstly, the queen captures the knight with check (7. Qxg8+) and fork of the just developed bishop, which was captured the next turn (8. Qxg4).

The weak light squares now make itself know. Black attempts to retreat their king, but the bishop attacks through the hole that was the f-pawn (10. Bh6+). Black runs their king back and my queen passes through the weakened light squares with checkmate! GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/87610232905

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.09.04"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Preshme"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Zhuravlev-Countergambit-3.Qg4"]
[UTCDate "2023.09.04"]
[UTCTime "23:44:07"]
[WhiteElo "1364"]
[BlackElo "737"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "23:44:07"]
[EndDate "2023.09.04"]
[EndTime "23:47:30"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/87610232905"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/185960259.1dacbb39.50x50o.edee3e665e63.png"]
[BlackCountry "204"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:07.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:07]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:13.5]} 2...
Bb4 {[%clk 0:15:09.4] Vienna Game: Zhuravlev Countergambit} 3. Qg4 {[%clk
0:15:17.7][%c_arrow
g4g7;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false] \"Giraffe-ish\"
Counterattack $1} 3... Bxc3 $6 {[%clk 0:15:15.3][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This is inaccurate [+0.7]} 4. dxc3
{[%clk 0:14:59.8]} 4... f6 $4 {[%clk 0:15:21.9][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d8f6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] This doesn't defend
g7 and weakens the defence of the king [+6.3]} 5. Qxg7 {[%clk 0:14:59.1]} 5... d5
{[%clk 0:15:16.2]} 6. Qxh8 {[%clk 0:14:53]} 6... Bg4 $4 {[%clk
0:15:24.7][%c_arrow
c8e6;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] This blunders the knight and bishop $1
[+12]} 7. Qxg8+ {[%clk 0:14:46.1]} 7... Ke7 {[%clk 0:15:32.5]} 8. Qxg4 {[%clk
0:14:45.8]} 8... dxe4 {[%clk 0:15:42]} 9. Bc4 {[%clk 0:14:32.3]} 9... Kf8 $2
{[%clk 0:15:44.4][%c_arrow
d8d6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false][%c_effect
f8;square;f8;type;Mistake;persistent;true] [+M3]} 10. Bh6+ {[%clk 0:14:32]}
10... Ke7 {[%clk 0:15:50.3]} 11. Qe6# {[%clk 0:14:22.8][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e7;square;e7;type;CheckmateBlack] GG $1} 1-0