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Today’s game is a delicious quick game of 10+5 on Lichess, where my opponent with the Black pieces was smothered by an angry Viennese giraffe!

That’s right, I played another Giraffe Attack (1. e3 e4 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. Qg4) against the Anderssen Defense in the Vienna Game, one of my favourite lines in chess! Black, who must have been surprised, played a curious move with (3… Ne7). It’s a blunder, but perhaps, it’s not obviously as bad as what it seems until you think about it more. The Giraffe Attack queen is immediately targeting the g-pawn on g7, and the knight on e7 doesn’t do anything about that.

I immediate capture the g-pawn (4. Qxg7) and Black, spooked, immediately snuggles their rook against their king with (4… Rf8) to provide a “cocoon” defence.

When I saw this, I had some evil thoughts… A cocooned king is a smothered king, and I wondered whether I could get a smothered mate! To get a smothered mate in this scenario, I needed to advance my queen’s knight into position. So, my subsequent two moves were to make this happen.

First, the bishop (5. Bc4) to defend the d5 square for my knight. Then the knight advances (6. Nd5). Black doesn’t see the tactic and attempts to counterattack with their knight into my position. This was a blunder as on the next move (7. Nf6#) – smothered checkmate! GG!

Game on Lichess: https://lichess.org/XY0KZxjM

[Event "Rated Rapid game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/XY0KZxjM"]
[Date "2023.10.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "MisterFilou"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2023.10.18"]
[UTCTime "03:34:51"]
[WhiteElo "1530"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723@2x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[BlackElo "1521"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+16"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-6"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[ECO "C25"]
[Opening "Vienna Game: Giraffe Attack"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl ""]
[BlackCountry "52"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:10:00]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:10:00]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:10:02]} 2... Bc5
{[%clk 0:09:56]} 3. Qg4 {[%clk 0:10:03] Vienna Game: Giraffe Attack} 3... Ne7 $4
{[%clk 0:09:49][%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Blunder;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] A curious blunder $1
[+3]} 4. Qxg7 {[%clk 0:09:39]} 4... Rf8 $6 {[%clk 0:09:47][%c_effect
f8;square;f8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7g6;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;g6;persistent;false,h8g8;keyPressed;none;from;h8;opacity;0.8;to;g8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false,g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g8;persistent;false]
Black cocoons their king to protect, but this is an inaccuracy [+3.8]} 5. Bc4 $5
{[%clk 0:09:07][%c_arrow
g7e5;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Not necessarily the most accurate
move, but I saw a possibility with the Black king being smothered...} 5...
Nbc6 $6 {[%clk 0:09:33][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7d5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false]} 6. Nd5 $5 {[%clk
0:09:00][%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%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]} 6... Nd4 $4 {[%clk
0:09:14][%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7d5;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] Black doesn't see
it $1} 7. Nf6# {[%clk 0:08:58][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e8;square;e8;type;CheckmateBlack] Smothered checkmate $1
GG $1} 1-0