---

I haven’t had many Vienna Gambit games recently, so I was very happy to have this comfortable and nice smooth game recently!

My opponent declined the gambit with d6 (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d6) and the idea to know is to develop the king’s knight (4. Nf3), with the aim of taking the full centre with d4 to take advantage of Black’s slow development.

On move 6, I recapture the pawn with development of my bishop (6. Bxf4), and I notice that Black is struggling with being unsure of the opening approach. Black should have castled immediately, which was presumably the purpose of their (5… Be7), but instead responded with an unbalanced aggressive move (6… Bg4) which attempted to pin my knight to my queen. This was an inaccuracy as that bishop can be easily kicked with h3, and if Black attempts to maintain the pin, the bishop is at risk of being trapped!

Black’s relatively slow development and lack of central control allowed me to keep my king in the centre (12. Kd2) relatively safely, connect my rooks on the back rank without castling, and create an attack on Black’s king down the h-file. A few moves later, the aforementioned risk to Black’s bishop materialises with (15. h5) with the bishop having nowhere to go. Black attempts to trade away some of the attack, but it’s not enough.

After I capture Black’s bishop which had been pressed against the black king’s defensive pawns (20. hxg6), Black blunders by the very natural move of capturing back (20… fxg6). This not only exposes the black king to the light square diagonal, but also removes the only defender of the e6 square. My final move (21. Ne6) forked Black’s queen and rook, inflicting emotional damage with an evaluation of better than [+11], and Black resigns. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to know the response to the (3… d6) decline of the Vienna Gambit. Respond with developing the king’s knight to its natural square of f3, with the goal of supporting the taking of the full centre with d4.

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/91710519703

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.10.22"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "elchuck81"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C28"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Falkbeer-Vienna-Gambit-3...d6-4.Nf3"]
[UTCDate "2023.10.22"]
[UTCTime "10:43:18"]
[WhiteElo "1310"]
[BlackElo "1365"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "10:43:18"]
[EndDate "2023.10.22"]
[EndTime "10:55:05"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/91710519703"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[BlackCountry "4"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:09.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:08.6]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:13.6]}
2... Nf6 {[%clk 0:14:47]} 3. f4 {[%clk 0:15:21.8]} 3... d6 {[%clk
0:14:55][%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] Vienna Gambit,
Declined 3... d6. Apart from entering the Vienna Game Main Line (3... d5) this
is the next best response for Black [+0.5].} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:28.3]} 4... exf4
{[%clk 0:14:57.3][%c_arrow
f8e7;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]} 5. d4 {[%clk
0:15:28.5]} 5... Be7 {[%clk 0:15:03.2] A good move - prepare for castling} 6.
Bxf4 {[%clk 0:15:28.2] In this slower setup by Black, I get to win back a pawn
with development [+0.8] and a comfortable position} 6... Bg4 $6 {[%clk
0:15:10.2][%c_arrow
e8g8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;g8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g8;persistent;false][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This aggressive move is
conceptually inaccurate as Black was preparing to castle quickly [+1.3]} 7.
Bc4 $6 {[%clk 0:15:22.5][%c_arrow
d1e2;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false][%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A bit inaccurate [+0.6] as c4 ends
up being the wrong square for the bishop after Black castles. Developing the
queen to e2 is best, creating the opportunity to castle in both directions.}
7... O-O {[%clk 0:15:17.3]} 8. h3 {[%clk 0:15:13.4]} 8... Bh5 {[%clk
0:15:23.7][%c_arrow
g4e6;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] Although Stockfish
doesn't call this an inaccuracy [+1] with only a small difference in evaluation,
in human games, the light square bishop is at risk of being trapped} 9. g4 $5
{[%clk 0:15:18.6][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e2;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] Stockfish rates this
a mistake that returns to equality [0.00] as it believes that Black can defend
against this with optimum play. However, that's not so easy to do for a human,
meaning that there is a significant asymmetry in the difficulty of finding
accurate moves between White and Black $1} 9... Bg6 {[%clk 0:15:31.4]} 10. Bd3
{[%clk 0:14:28.2]} 10... Nfd7 $2 {[%clk 0:15:15][%c_effect
d7;square;d7;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Black gets spooked by
my strong centre and plays a backwards knight move. However, this was a mistake
[+1.8].} 11. Qe2 {[%clk 0:13:53.1][%c_arrow
h3h4;keyPressed;none;from;h3;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false] A bit suboptimal
[+1.4] and h4 might have been better to prevent Bh4+} 11... Bh4+ {[%clk
0:15:22]} 12. Kd2 {[%clk 0:12:54.7] I'm proud that I found this move after
thinking about the position for a minute [+1.6] $1 The rationale is that Black's
bishop has no attack, and I connect the rooks. The White king is a bit exposed
by nonetheless still safe $1} 12... Bf6 $2 {[%clk 0:15:06.2][%c_arrow
c7c5;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Black's moving their bishop a second
time was a mistake as I win tempo [+3.4]} 13. g5 $6 {[%clk 0:12:15.6][%c_arrow
h3h4;keyPressed;none;from;h3;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false][%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish can see a more powerful
attack with h4, but the line is complicated. My attack was suboptimal [+1.3] but
places immediate pressure on Black.} 13... Be7 {[%clk 0:15:06.7]} 14. h4 {[%clk
0:12:21.2]} 14... c5 $4 {[%clk 0:14:58.3][%c_arrow
g6h5;keyPressed;none;from;g6;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Blunder;persistent;true] This is a serious mistake as Black's
light square bishop is trapped [+5.5]} 15. h5 $1 {[%clk 0:12:00.1][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 15... cxd4 {[%clk 0:14:59.7]} 16.
Nxd4 {[%clk 0:12:05.2][%c_arrow
h5g6;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;g6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false] Stockfish prefers
capturing the bishop but I didn't want to lose material unnecessarily [+3.6]}
16... Bxg5 {[%clk 0:15:00.2]} 17. Nd5 {[%clk 0:11:43.6][%c_arrow
f4g5;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] Just trading bishops
was actually fine} 17... Bxf4+ {[%clk 0:15:02.5]} 18. Nxf4 {[%clk 0:11:52.2]
However, this transformation was better for me [+4.2]. Black should have kept
the tension.} 18... Qg5 {[%clk 0:15:09.8]} 19. Raf1 {[%clk 0:11:18]} 19... Ne5 $6
{[%clk 0:14:40.2][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Understandable move,
but inaccurate [5.6]} 20. hxg6 {[%clk 0:11:17.5]} 20... fxg6 $4 {[%clk
0:14:45.7][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false][%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;Blunder;persistent;true] This is a mistake as Black has opened
the light square diagonal to their king, and is no longer defender the e6 square
[+9]} 21. Ne6 {[%clk 0:11:15][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;ResignBlack][%c_arrow
e6f8;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false,e6g5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false,g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false]
Emotional damage with the knight fork of the rook and queen. Black resigns, GG $1}
1-0