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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.

Today’s game is a very beautiful and tricky line by White against the French Defense. I like it already! 😝 It was sent in by a Team Australia clubmate @Hippocampus_D and it’s a very clean checkmate in 10 moves, where Black largely plays only sensible looking moves! Lovely!

The excitement begins on move 2 with White playing the very uncommon Steiner Variation of the French Defence (1. e4 e6 2. c4) by pushing their c-pawn! There is a neat psychological logic. In the French, Black wants to build their centre, play d5 on the next move, usually resulting in a solid closed game. So, with c4, we ask the question, are they really going to be playing d5 and if they do (they usually will), the board immediately blows up and the centre opens (2… d5 3. cxd5 exd5). Black is completely fine here, but it is against the spirit of the French Defense. If Black wanted to play a game with an open early centre, they would have probably played 1… e5 rather than 1… e6.

After pawns trade, White continues a very aggressive approach with the inaccurate [-0.7] but devious (4. Qa4+!?). White is trying to bait Black to play (4… Bd7) – a logical looking move. Black develops a piece, and wins tempo on White’s queen, and evaluation-wise, Stockfish agrees. However, on the Lichess community database, this move results in a win-ratio advantage to White, despite the engine evaluation as Black’s following natural moves are serious mistakes and blunders!

White plays (5. Qb3) and White now has two attackers on Black’s newly undefended (Black’s bishop on d7 blocks their queen’s vision down the d-file) d-pawn. And here, White has basically transposed the game into the Orthoschnapp Gambit, but where Black played Bd7. Black, naturally captures (5… dxe4), winning material and removing their pawn from the attack, and this is the most accurate move. However, this is almost a gambit as White now has (6. Bc4), forming a battery with the queen down the light-square diagonal looking at Black’s f7 square. Why “almost” a gambit? Well, the white queen on b3 didn’t just attack d5-pawn, but also forked the b7 pawn! White’s loss of a pawn was only ever temporary and now White has two simultaneous threats – an attack on b7 and f7.

This threat is not easy to navigate, and it is probable that at the beginner-intermediate level, the poor French player who wasn’t even expecting an immediate open tactical game might not even seen the threat down the b-file! Black now plays a blunder [-0.7 → +4.2] (6… Qe7??), the single most common response in the position according to the Lichess database. The correct move Qf6, is difficult to see unless you already recognise the tactical pattern. In this position Black has lost their rook on a8.

White strikes with (7. Qxb7) and Black responds almost immediately with (7… Bc6??) as if they were expecting it. It’s a sensible looking move, with the bishop giving x-ray defence of the rook on a8. So why is it a blunder? Well, in this position, Black is about to face a choice – lose their queen or checkmate!

White’s multifaceted attack now becomes clear with (8. Qc8+!). The queen has infiltrated along the light squares into Black’s back rank! Like a ninja, she slipped through the open window and is about to assassinate Black’s king on his throne, still surrounded by his army! Black’s next move is forced (8… Qd8), blocking the check and White now uses the bishop to deflect the king from the defence of the queen with (9. Bxf7+!)

Black has only two legal moves. The king should capture the bishop (Kxf7) and accept that his queen is lost with Qxd8. In this game, as like most games from this position, Black didn’t want to abandon their queen with (9… Ke7??) and thus falling to (10. Qe6#) checkmate! GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/93046367525

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2023.11.06"]

[Round "-"]

[White "Hippocampus_D"]

[Black "mj13881388"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Timezone "UTC"]

[ECO "C00"]

[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/French-Defense-Steiner-Variation-2...d5-3.cxd5-exd5"]

[UTCDate "2023.11.06"]

[UTCTime "21:51:31"]

[WhiteElo "1417"]

[BlackElo "1515"]

[TimeControl "600"]

[Termination "Hippocampus_D won by checkmate"]

[StartTime "21:51:31"]

[EndDate "2023.11.06"]

[EndTime "21:52:26"]

[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/93046367525"]

[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/271940739.23689ee9.50x50o.a219e5de89a5.jpg"]

[WhiteCountry "17"]

[WhiteTitle ""]

[BlackUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]

[BlackCountry "71"]

[BlackTitle ""]



1. e4 {[%clk 0:09:59]} 1... e6 {[%clk 0:09:57.6]} 2. c4 {[%clk 0:09:57.7] French

Defense: Steiner Variation. A very interesting and aggressive approach to the

French Defense $1 The immediate c4 is very committal, but it changes the typical

dynamic as d5 is now defended by two pawns. [-0.1]} 2... d5 {[%clk 0:09:57.5]}

3. cxd5 {[%clk 0:09:56.5]} 3... exd5 {[%clk 0:09:57.4]} 4. Qa4+ $5 {[%clk

0:09:55.5][%c_effect a4;square;a4;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow

e4d5;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] This is an

inaccurate, but tricky move, as we shall see $1 [-0.7]} 4... Bd7 {[%clk

0:09:43.1]} 5. Qb3 {[%clk 0:09:54.1] The queen now forks Black's d-pawn and

b-pawn. However, in the rapid pacing of the game, the queen's attack down the

b-file can be easily to miss.} 5... dxe4 {[%clk 0:09:40.6]} 6. Bc4 {[%clk

0:09:53] A powerful battery staring at f7 that isn't easy for Black to navigate}

6... Qe7 $4 {[%clk 0:09:35.2][%c_effect

e7;square;e7;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 is a blunder

[+4.2] - Black loses their rook on a8, but it isn't easy to see. Qf6 is best as

after Qxb7, Black has Qc6 with x-ray defence of the rook on a8, and offering a

trade of queens.} 7. Qxb7 {[%clk 0:09:50.1]} 7... Bc6 $4  {[%clk

0:09:34.3][%c_arrow

e4e3;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false,e7b4;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false,b4;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false][%c_effect

c6;square;c6;type;Blunder;persistent;true] This is a very natural move,

attacking the queen with the bishop with x-ray defence of the rook. However,

it's a mistake $1 [+5.7] and Black hangs checkmate or loses their queen. The best

move, the audacious e3 is hard to find $1 An alternative is Qb4 and asking to

trade queens.} 8. Qc8+ $1 {[%clk 0:09:48.5][%c_effect

c8;square;c8;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight

c8;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false]} 8... Qd8 {[%clk

0:09:26.7] Forced move} 9. Bxf7+ $1 {[%clk 0:09:46][%c_effect

f7;square;f7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight

f7;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false]} 9... Ke7 $4 {[%clk

0:09:25.2][%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow

e8f7;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false] Black has only two

legal moves - Kxf7, which loses the queen or this move Ke7. However, this hangs

mate $1} 10. Qe6# {[%clk 0:09:44.9][%c_effect

e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e7;square;e7;type;CheckmateBlack][%c_arrow

e6d6;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,e6f6;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,e6f7;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false,f7e6;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,e6d7;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;d7;persistent;false,e6e8;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]

GG $1} 1-0