Michael Tam

Fantastic Giraffe Attack | Cracking open the king’s castle! 🦒

I haven’t played very many games of the Vienna recently, so I was really happy to have had this game of the Giraffe Attack, one of my favourite lines (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. Qg4)!

The opening went my way, and with (6. Nd5), I had a winning advantage of over [+5]! Although the Giraffe Attack is a suboptimal opening, it is tricky for Black to navigate! Black then played something that I didn’t expect, which was to sacrifice their bishop with (6… Bxf2+). I knew that this wasn’t a good move, but I must admit that it did disorient me slightly. Although I maintained my advantage for the next few turns, I didn’t manage to convert my advantage to a winning attack.

On move 17, I miscalculated with (17. Be4). I had assumed that Black’s knight on f6 was pinned to its queen, but underappreciated that after Nxe4, the knight had a follow up attack on my queen. In essence, I blundered my bishop and lost my advantage from [+5 → 0.00]. However, I was able to follow up with a transformation on move 19, with a strong attack on Black’s king, which had castled short.

Black played the expected (19. h6). My intuition was that pulling back the knight was a mistake, and even considered the correct move (20. f6), ostensibly hanging both the pawn and knight! However, I couldn’t calculate through the attack and at about a minute, I chickened out with (20. Nf3), indeed, a mistake according to the engine [-2.5].

The curious thing with after (20. f6) is that although both the pawn on f6 and the knight on g5 appear to be hanging, it would be a blunder by Black to capture either! This would cause a critical weakness to the black king’s defences which ultimately requires Black to sacrifice their queen to avoid checkmate!

Black now makes an error of their own. Up on material, Black’s best approach is to immediate trade queens to permanently nerf my attack, and then win the endgame. However, Black attempted a more aggressive approach, which of course, gave me opportunities!

On move 22, I found the critical move (22. f6) and Black attempts to strike out with (22. g5). However, this was a blunder as (23. Qxh6) allows the queen to infiltrate, and one step away from checkmate, casting a mating net. Black can only delay checkmate by sacrificing their queen for my f-pawn on f6 and so opts to resign. GG!

The big takeaway for me is to develop greater familiarity with this attack pattern around the king with the forward f-pawn and queen!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/95134760073

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2023.12.01"]

[Round "-"]

[White "vitualis"]

[Black "amadeuszl177"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Timezone "UTC"]

[ECO "C25"]

[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Anderssen-Defense-Giraffe-Attack"]

[UTCDate "2023.12.01"]

[UTCTime "01:58:52"]

[WhiteElo "1304"]

[BlackElo "1349"]

[TimeControl "900+10"]

[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

[StartTime "01:58:52"]

[EndDate "2023.12.01"]

[EndTime "02:22:38"]

[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/95134760073"]

[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]

[WhiteCountry "17"]

[WhiteTitle ""]

[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/108481092.ca95561a.50x50o.f18df56d995d.png"]

[BlackCountry "112"]

[BlackTitle ""]



1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:09.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:08]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:15.4]} 2...

Bc5 {[%clk 0:14:50.5]} 3. Qg4 {[%clk 0:15:23] Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense,

Giraffe Attack  $1 It is technically inaccurate, but is full of fun giraffey

goodness  $1 🦒} 3... Qf6 {[%clk 0:14:36.4][%c_arrow

g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] Though this isn't

technically a mistake [-0.4 $37 0.00], it gives the advantage back to White and

makes the Giraffe Attack worthwhile  $1} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:31.1]} 4... Nh6 $2

{[%clk 0:14:10.8][%c_effect

h6;square;h6;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

g8e7;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight

e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false] This is a mistake

[+2]} 5. Qg3 {[%clk 0:15:37.8]} 5... d6 $2 {[%clk 0:14:11.7][%c_effect

d6;square;d6;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

c7c6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Another mistake

[+5.3]} 6. Nd5 $1 {[%clk 0:15:46][%c_effect

d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 6... Bxf2+ {[%clk 0:10:52.2]} 7.

Qxf2 {[%clk 0:15:08.1]} 7... Qd8 {[%clk 0:10:52.8]} 8. Bc4 {[%clk 0:15:04.7]}

8... c6 {[%clk 0:10:05.3]} 9. Ne3 {[%clk 0:15:01.3]} 9... b5 {[%clk 0:10:09.5]}

10. Be2 {[%clk 0:14:43.6]} 10... O-O {[%clk 0:09:52.8]} 11. O-O {[%clk

0:14:26.6]} 11... Nd7 {[%clk 0:09:43]} 12. d4 {[%clk 0:13:47.7]} 12... Nf6

{[%clk 0:09:40.8]} 13. Bd3 {[%clk 0:13:35.3]} 13... exd4 {[%clk 0:09:33.4]} 14.

Nf5 $6 {[%clk 0:13:08][%c_effect

f5;square;f5;type;Inaccuracy;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

f3d4;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] I wanted to lead with

an attack but this was an inaccuracy [+3.8]} 14... Nxf5 {[%clk 0:09:33.9]} 15.

exf5 {[%clk 0:13:06.8]} 15... c5 {[%clk 0:09:34]} 16. Bg5 {[%clk 0:12:30.6]}

16... c4 $6 {[%clk 0:08:54.5][%c_effect

c4;square;c4;type;Inaccuracy;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

h7h6;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false]} 17. Be4 $4 {[%clk

0:10:24.3][%c_effect

e4;square;e4;type;Blunder;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

g5f6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] This is a blunder as

I undercalculated the implication of of Nxe4. It isn't pinned to the queen as

the knight has a follow up attack on my queen [+5 $37 0.00]} 17... Nxe4 {[%clk

0:08:51.8]} 18. Qh4 {[%clk 0:09:32.7]} 18... Nxg5 {[%clk 0:08:48.7]} 19. Nxg5

{[%clk 0:09:39]} 19... h6 {[%clk 0:08:38.6]} 20. Nf3 $2 {[%clk 0:08:47][%c_effect

f3;square;f3;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

f5f6;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] Here, I had an

intuition that pulling the knight back was a mistake, and it was [-2.5].

However, although I considered f6 in the game, I couldn't calculate the

implication and chickened out  $1 😂} ({This was the best move.} 20. f6 hxg5 $4

{[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Blunder;persistent;true] If Black is greedy and

captures the knight, then they lose their queen to prevent checkmate} (20...

gxf6 $4 {[%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} 21. Ne4 f5 22.

Qxh6 fxe4 23. Rf6 {[%c_arrow

d8f6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,h6g5;keyPressed;none;from;h6;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,g5g8;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;g8;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false]

And again, Black will have to trade away their queen to prevent checkmate}) 21.

Qxg5 {[%c_arrow

g5g7;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false,g7g8;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g8;persistent;false,d8f6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,f1f6;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false,f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false]})

20... Qb6 $2 {[%clk 0:08:18.5][%c_arrow

d8h4;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false][%c_effect

b6;square;b6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] This was a mistake by Black - they

should have traded queens to consolidate while up on material [-2.5 $37 0.00]} 21.

Nxd4 $6 {[%clk 0:08:38.2][%c_effect

d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

f5f6;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false]} 21... Bb7 $2 {[%clk

0:07:49.6][%c_effect

b7;square;b7;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true][%c_arrow

f7f6;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false]} 22. f6 $1 {[%clk

0:07:27.4][%c_effect

f6;square;f6;type;GreatFind;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true] I was a

little hesitant the last couple of turns but finally found f6. This cracks open

the defences of the Black king  $1} 22... g5 $4 {[%clk 0:07:47.9][%c_effect

g5;square;g5;type;Blunder;path;null;size;100%25;persistent;true] This critically

weakens the king and there is a forced mate [-M12]. The length is largely only

if Black delay via a queen sacrifice.} 23. Qxh6 {[%clk 0:07:13.8]} 23... Qxd4+

{[%clk 0:07:18.8]} 24. Rf2 $1 {[%clk 0:07:21.8][%c_effect

f2;square;f2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true,g1;square;g1;type;Winner,g8;square;g8;type;ResignBlack]

And White resigns, GG  $1 The only way to delay checkmate is Qxf6.} 1-0

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