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Today’s game is from my mate @benhunt72 of the Chess Boot Camp channel and club! This game features the opening “Knight + Bishop” checkmate pattern that we’ve seen before, most commonly in the 8-move “oh no my queen!” trap out of the von Hennig Gambit against the Caro-Kann Defense.

This game is very similar to that line, however even quicker with checkmate on move 6! White plays the rather tricky Réti Opening, and then the Réti Gambit, which Black accepts (1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 dxc4). The interesting thing about this gambit is just how good it is! The gambit itself has a completely neutral evaluation [0.00] so White isn’t even worse off. Black’s best response to the gambit is to decline with d4, which makes the d-pawn a bit overextended, and gives White a step of tempo! Accepting the gambit gives White an evaluation advantage [+0.3]!

Black attempts to pin White’s knight to the queen and regain some tempo with (3… Bg4), but this is not especially accurate [+0.7]. White plays an easy developing move (4. Bxc4), recapturing the point of material and placing the bishop on its natural development square, with vision on Black’s weak f-pawn on f7.

Black plays another sensible-looking developing move (4… Nf6), but this is a straight up mistake at worse than [+2]. It all hinges on the fact that White has an attack on f7, while Black is a step too slow…

The accurate move that assumes Black plays accurately is the immediate bishop sacrifice capture of the f-pawn with check, which forces the king to capture, and then an absolute fork of the king on f7 and the bishop on g4 (5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Ne5+ Ke8 7. Kxg4). White wins a point of material and forces Black to lose their right to castle.

However, there is also the devious “oh no my queen” trap line with (5. Ne5)! Black falls for the trap (5… Bxd1) – this is a 5-min game of blitz – and succumbs to (6. Bxf7#). GG!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/94639679889

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2023.11.25"]

[Round "-"]

[White "benhunt72"]

[Black "hendihidayat"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Timezone "UTC"]

[ECO "A09"]

[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Reti-Opening-Reti-Gambit-Accepted-3.e3"]

[UTCDate "2023.11.25"]

[UTCTime "08:21:22"]

[WhiteElo "1329"]

[BlackElo "1417"]

[TimeControl "300"]

[Termination "benhunt72 won by checkmate"]

[StartTime "08:21:22"]

[EndDate "2023.11.25"]

[EndTime "08:22:02"]

[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/94639679889"]

[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/37392096.ee41e75f.50x50o.d2f92453760f.png"]

[WhiteCountry "164"]

[WhiteTitle ""]

[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/58205444.e094656d.50x50o.bd8b56000db1.png"]

[BlackCountry "70"]

[BlackTitle ""]



1. Nf3 {[%clk 0:05:00]} 1... d5 {[%clk 0:04:58.9]} 2. c4 {[%clk 0:04:58.1]

Surprisngly, the engine considers this gambit entirely fine [0.00]} 2... dxc4

{[%clk 0:04:52.5][%c_arrow

d5d4;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] Réti Opening: Réti

Gambit Accepted, and White is feeling comfortable [+0.3]. Black's most accurate

move is to decline the gambit with d4.} 3. e3 {[%clk 0:04:56.7]} 3... Bg4 {[%clk

0:04:42.9][%c_arrow

e7e6;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,h7h6;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false,g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

e6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,f6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,h6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false]

No the most accurate move [+0.7]} 4. Bxc4 {[%clk 0:04:54.3]} 4... Nf6 $2 {[%clk

0:04:38.7][%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake - can

you see the killer tactical move for White $2} 5. Ne5 $5 {[%clk

0:04:48.7][%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Interesting;persistent;true] White plays

the devious \"oh no my queen\" trap. This creates a possible checkmate-in-one,

but is suboptimal if Black finds the correct response (Be6).} ({Technically the

best move, using the assumption that Black plays accurately} 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.

Ne5+ {[%c_arrow

e5f7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false,e5g4;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false]}

6... Ke8 7. Nxg4 {[%c_arrow

g4f6;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] And chess

continues...}) 5... Bxd1 $4 {[%clk 0:04:36.8][%c_effect

d1;square;d1;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow

e5d7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false,e5f7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false]

Black falls for the trap} 6. Bxf7# {[%clk 0:04:46.8][%c_effect

e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e8;square;e8;type;CheckmateBlack][%c_arrow

f7e8;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,e5d7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false,e5f7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight

e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false]

Checkmate, GG $1} 1-0