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I recently played the most romantic game of chess ever! This game was a club tournament match – I had the White pieces and played for Team Sydney (Australia) and my opponent was playing for Team Sophia (Bulgaria).

But what is the romantic style of chess? Romanticism is an artistic movement that originated in the 18th century that emphasised emotion over reason, individualism over conformity, and freedom over structure with regards to expressive form. In chess, romanticism is expressed in preferring rapid tactical manoeuvres and daring gambits and sacrifices, over more sound positional play and longer-term strategic planning. This was the style of Steinitz, Anderssen, Staunton and Morphy. To quote myself from a new book that I’m currently writing on romantic chess opening attacks (aiming for release in late-2024!), from the perspective of a romanticist:

“It is not enough to simply win, but one must strive to win with style!”

– vitualis the chess noob

I love playing in the romantic style as it is exciting, fun, and creative. After all, in casual chess what’s the point of playing if it isn’t fun, whether you win or lose?

This game started with my opponent playing the Sicilian Defense and then entering the Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted (1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3), my current favourite anti-Sicilian approach. On move 6, Black played a somewhat hesitant and waiting move (6… h6). Hmm… This was an indication that they were likely to play more conservatively and defensively; a bit of information to file away when thinking about the opponent will respond to provocation!

On move 7, Black makes their first relative inaccuracy with (7… Nf6) as it can immediately be attacked with (8. e5). However, I don’t correctly capitalise on this error. One of my bad habits in daily matches is that I often play moves on my phone when I’m out and about, as soon as I receive a notification. Although this means that my daily games often finish much more quickly than for other people (for instance, I’m the first person in this tournament to have finished both games – one with Black and one with White), I often make mistakes due to underthinking a position as I’m in a rush. My first mistake came quickly on move 11 (11. Nd6+). Although I trade one of my knights for Black’s dark square bishop, I lose another pawn in the process for no compensation. Ouch!

However, galvanised my approach to the game. Given that I was clearly already in a disadvantageous position, it was now time to double down on my plan to play romantically! So, to create attacks, play tactical and sharp lines, and always look for sacrifices for advantage, both absolute and psychological ones!

Move 13: Black is comfortably ahead [-2] and castles their king to safety (13… O-O). However, I noticed that most of Black’s pieces were on the queenside, and on the other side of their diagonal chain of pawns. I decided to launch a critical attack on Black’s kingside defences by sacrificing my dark square bishop, striking their h6-pawn they moved on move 6! The attack would open the g-file and expose Black’s king, and to exploit this with my queen, I needed to move my knight on f3… so (14. Nd4)!

Black plays another waiting move (14… a6); I strike (15. Bxh6!?). Stockfish hates this move as romanticism is often at odds with accuracy. The consequence of this is that when playing an audacious and unsound romantic attack, engine recommendations are often not especially helpful as it will typically recommend consolidating moves, pulling back from the attack, and enduring a long lingering defensive game to delay defeat as long as possible!

From this point (move 15) until move 34, I’m dead lost according to the engine. I’m never better than around [-5] and yet, I managed to hold the initiative in the middlegame! With Black’s king exposed, my goal was to peel open Black’s defences, especially getting rid of more of the pawns. Move 20, I sacrifice my other bishop to open a file (20. Bxf5!?) and this allows me to infiltrate my rook to Black’s 8th rank (21. Re8+). This rook has an outsized power – it effectively removes Black’s king’s access to their own back rank, and pins two of Black’s pieces.

Next move, I make use of the momentum and crash forward with my knight, capturing yet another of Black’s pawns (22. Nxf5). This was a very powerful move, with an attack on Black’s queen, and if Black doesn’t navigate correctly, further smashes open Black’s king’s very tenuous defence. Black, however, plays a very strong defensive game. They correctly trade their rook for my knight (22. Bxf5 23. Rxa8), and blunt my attack, giving them some respite and possibility of a counterattack…

…such as (25… Ng5)! This was a very clever approach, but I saw it. If I didn’t, Nf3 would have been a family fork of my queen, rook, and king, and the f3 square which is defended by my g-pawn, would simultaneously be rendered impotent due to the discovered pin by Black’s rook on g6! Luckily, this tactic was refuted with (26. Kh1).

The next few moves see some mutual manoeuvring. Black tries to form an attack on my f3-pawn (correct) and I struggle to find a way to infiltrate with my queen and other rook. Eventually, I found the crack with (33. Rc8!?)! This is technically a blunder as Black has [-M8] but they would need to sacrifice one of their minor pieces by capturing my f-pawn. This is difficult to find, and Black didn’t see it (and neither did I to be honest). My Rc8, however, was to give a psychological nudge for Black to move their c6-knight. They did (33… Ne5?) and their logic seemed clear – triple attacking my f3-pawn. However, this hesitancy was their undoing and this gave the long dark square diagonal to my queen which I made use of immediately (34. Qxd4), pinning the Black knight to the king.

Black now makes a fateful move – a completely natural and sensible-looking move. But it was a blunder! The evaluation switches from [-9 → +3] when Black unpinned their knight with (34… Kh7??). Black had to immediately counterattack with (Nxf3), which crushed my entire position after a series of trades, rather than take the more passive stance.

One step of tempo was all I needed as (35. Rxe5!). I had a strong intuition that Black still thought that they were winning as it appears that I’d just hung a fork. However, this was a lure, a ruse, a trap! Black leapt into it with (35… Nxf3??), hanging [+M2]!

That rook on the 8th rank? I played (36. Rh8+), ostensibly sacrificing the rook with check. However, the goal was to force Black’s king onto the long dark square diagonal! Perhaps suspicious, Black opted to not capture my rook (36… Kg7), but to no avail…

And then, the final move. The pièce de résistance, the cherry on top, a beautiful coup de grâce. (37. Re7#) – double-check checkmate, DOUBLE CHECKMATE!

“It is not enough to simply win, but one must strive to win with style!”

The big takeaway from this game is to not be afraid to lose! Play in the romantic style! Take a leap of faith and try sacrificing pieces for activity. Win or lose you’ll get to experience a fun and exciting way to play chess!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/619740361

[Event "WCL2024 R4: Sydney, NSW vs Sofia - Board 24"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.02.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "plamen196565"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Match "https://www.chess.com/club/matches/1577997"]
[CurrentPosition "7R/1p2R1k1/p2q2rp/3b4/3Q4/1P3n2/P5PP/7K b - - 3 37"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "B21"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Sicilian-Defense-Smith-Morra-Gambit-Accepted-4.Nxc3-d6-5.Bc4-e6-6.Nf3"]
[UTCDate "2024.02.07"]
[UTCTime "16:04:08"]
[WhiteElo "1240"]
[BlackElo "1271"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "16:04:08"]
[EndDate "2024.02.10"]
[EndTime "09:38:42"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/619740361"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723@2x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/160923941.ce88e407.50x50o.37589b35a570@2x.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "28"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 67:42:43]} 1... c5 {[%clk 62:12:17]} 2. d4 {[%clk 71:10:24]} 2...
cxd4 {[%clk 71:23:01]} 3. c3 {[%clk 71:43:29]} 3... dxc3 {[%clk 71:51:45]
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted.} 4. Nxc3 {[%clk 71:39:55]} 4...
d6 {[%clk 71:48:14]} 5. Bc4 {[%clk 71:35:39]} 5... e6 {[%clk 71:19:04]} 6. Nf3
{[%clk 71:50:11]} 6... h6 {[%clk 71:49:57] My first indication that my opponent
with the Black pieces might bias towards a more hesitant mindset when
uncertain...} 7. O-O {[%clk 71:46:16]} 7... Nf6 $6 {[%clk 71:58:19][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] This is a relative
inaccuracy [0.00 $37 +0.3] as e5 dxe5 Qxd8+ kxd8 results in a queen-less
middlegame, but where Black loses the right to castle} 8. e5 {[%clk 71:51:25]}
8... Nh7 $2 {[%clk 71:56:43][%c_arrow
d6e5;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_effect
h7;square;h7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] However, Black opts to not trade
pawns, and shuffles their knight to the edge of the board. This is a mistake
[+2.6], but I don't capitalise on it in the following turns.} 9. Nb5 $2 {[%clk
71:55:03][%c_arrow
e5d6;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] I should have captured exd6
immediately, but didn't clearly think through the implication [+0.1]} 9... d5
{[%clk 71:59:28] Black now correctly navigates out of the attack} 10. Bb3 {[%clk
71:54:54]} 10... Nc6 {[%clk 71:56:25]} 11. Nd6+ $2 {[%clk 71:58:25][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Making moves in a daily game while
you're on the move on your mobile phone is a bad habit of mine... as I'm prone
to making errors $1 [-2.2]} 11... Bxd6 {[%clk 69:36:17]} 12. exd6 {[%clk
68:32:00]} 12... Qxd6 {[%clk 71:59:36]} 13. Re1 {[%clk 71:55:20] I was already
intending on playing in the Romantic style in this game, but having now lost a
pawn for no good reason, I decided to really double down on this idea $1 From this
point on, I aimed to play very tactically, create sharp lines, and always
consider piece sacrifices $1 Here, I pin Black's e-pawn to immediately create an
attack on the d5-pawn $1} 13... O-O {[%clk 71:56:56]} 14. Nd4 {[%clk 71:56:39] I'm
planning on sacrificing my dark square bishop with Bxh6 to punch a hole in
Black's king's defences. Note how Black's pieces are on the queenside on the
wrong side of their wall of pawns. However, I need to be able to follow up with
Qg4+, thus moving the knight out of the way first...} 14... a6 {[%clk 71:59:25]}
15. Bxh6 $5 {[%clk 71:57:06][%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Technically a serious mistake
[-1.8 $37 -4.7] but this sacrifice gives me counterplay and a great initiative $1}
15... gxh6 {[%clk 71:54:11]} 16. Qg4+ {[%clk 71:59:16]} 16... Kh8 {[%clk
71:59:20]} 17. Re3 $5 {[%clk 71:58:17][%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Rook lift. Again, Stockfish hates
this move [-6.7] but I need to bring more pieces into the attack. Stockfish's
recommendations in this context can mislead, as the most accurate engine play
will only lead to a drawn out loss from this position.} 17... Rg8 $6 {[%clk
71:58:12][%c_arrow
e6e5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Black's best approach as we'll see
from the engine evaluations is often to immediately counterattack and press
their material advantage (e.g., including trading down material). However, Black
tends to play more conservatively, and this gives me a tactical advantage.} 18.
Qh4 {[%clk 71:57:35]} 18... Rg6 {[%clk 71:58:52][%c_arrow
e6e5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false]} 19. Bc2 {[%clk
71:56:45]} 19... f5 {[%clk 71:47:26]} 20. Bxf5 $5 {[%clk 71:57:51][%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Sacrifice another bishop $3 Again,
technically inaccurate [-5 $37 -6.5], but I managed to punch a hole in the centre
which gives me potential access to Black's relatively exposed king $1} 20... exf5
{[%clk 71:59:08]} 21. Re8+ {[%clk 71:59:47]} 21... Nf8 {[%clk 71:59:27][%c_arrow
e8h8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false,e8a8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;a8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false,c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false]
Note the power of my rook on the 8th rank $1 It effectively pins two of Black's
pieces in place $1} 22. Nxf5 {[%clk 71:59:04][%c_arrow
f5h6;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false,h6f7;keyPressed;none;from;h6;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false,f5d6;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]
Crash on forward $1 I thought that this was a very powerful move...} 22... Bxf5
{[%clk 71:59:15] ... though, Black finds this response which is the most
accurate, and I wasn't expecting. However, Black loses the a8 rook, which is a
vital defence of their back rank. We'll see that this becomes critical at the
end.} 23. Rxa8 {[%clk 71:59:37]} 23... Kg7 {[%clk 71:59:15] From here, Black
plays a fantatic defence game for quite a few moves $1} 24. Re1 {[%clk 71:58:52]}
24... Ne6 {[%clk 71:58:32]} 25. Re8 {[%clk 71:58:55]} 25... Ng5 {[%clk
71:58:00][%c_arrow
g5f3;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,f3g1;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;g1;persistent;false,f3h4;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false,f3e1;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] A very clever
tactical approach, but I saw it... whew $1 Nf3 would be family fork and with a
discovered pin of the g-pawn by the rook $1} 26. Kh1 $1 {[%clk 71:55:41][%c_effect
h1;square;h1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] This sidestep is a must $1} 26... Ne4
{[%clk 71:45:08]} 27. f3 {[%clk 71:22:18]} 27... Ng5 {[%clk 71:46:10]} 28. Qf2
{The queen was a bit cramped on h4 and needed some breathing room and
opportunities to launch a new attack. Note the exposed long dark square
diagonal...} 28... Be6 29. b3 Kf7 30. Rh8 Kg7 31. Qb2+ d4 {Technically the best
move. But note it creates a long term weakness and a chain of contingencies and
complications. The d-pawn is pinned to the king, and takes the square away from
the c6-knight.} 32. Re8 Bd5 33. Rc8 $5 {[%c_effect
c8;square;c8;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Black actually has a mating net
available in this position [-M8] and they had the right idea with the bishop and
knight targeting the f-pawn. This technically makes this move a blunder.
However, this is not the easiest to see, and Black was not likely to play an
ostensibly sacrificial move having played conservatively thus far. Rc8 was to
invite Black to move their c6-knight and allow for Qxd4+.} 33... Ne5 $2
{[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g5f3;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] And it worked $1 😁
Black opted to triple attack the f-pawn, and probably also saw Nd3, a fork of
the rook and queen.} 34. Qxd4 {[%c_arrow
d4e5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false,e5g7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] This pins the
e5-knight to the king, which is now attacked by my e1-rook $1} 34... Kh7 $4
{[%c_effect h7;square;h7;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
h7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h7;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g5f3;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false] Black unpins
their knight with Kh7, a completely natural and sensible-looking move, that is
also a blunder $1 [-9 $37 +3] The critical move was Nxf3.} 35. Rxe5 $1 {[%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] At this point, I saw
checkmate as I thought that Black would not be able to resist Nxf3 and the
seeming fork of the rook and queen... 😏} 35... Nxf3 $4 {[%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] ... and they
couldn't $1 This blunders [+M2].} 36. Rh8+ $1 {[%c_effect
h8;square;h8;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
h8;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false] I think that this is a
borderline brilliant move $1} 36... Kg7 ({If Black opted to capture the rook...}
36... Kxh8 37. Re8+ {Double-check $1} 37... Kh7 {Forced move...} 38. Qh8# {And
that's a GG $1}) 37. Re7# {[%c_effect
h1;square;h1;type;Winner,g7;square;g7;type;CheckmateBlack][%c_arrow
d4g7;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false,e7g7;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;g7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false] The pièce de
résistance, double-check checkmate, DOUBLE CHECKMATE finish $1} 1-0