---

One of the principles that I place on myself in the endeavour of chess is that I want to have fun. And sometimes, that means deliberately playing bold, risky, unsound moves just to see what happens! Because simply in casual chess, if you’re not enjoying the game, what exactly is the point, win or lose? Not every game needs to be this way, of course, but letting your hair down and playing chaotic chess occasionally is a good way to shake off the mind’s cobwebs!

I recently met up with a mate from university at Huelo, one of the best small bars in Sydney, whose owner thrashed me a week ago in a very fun over-the-board game! My mate and I had graduated over two decades ago and haven’t seen each other for some time, and we were both keen for some fun chess, some boozy chess, over a few glasses of wine! I’ve given them the sobriquet of “dr magneto” here; perhaps obscure, but I’m sure they’ll get the joke! 😏

First game; I give my mate the white pieces and as he’s a man of culture, he plays the Queen’s Pawn Opening which of course, demands the Englund Gambit as a response, to which he declines with d5… (1. d4 e5 2. d5?!). Interesting! One of the de facto rules of the matches was that we would try to play interesting chess!

In this position, I know from previous games that Nf6 is the best move, but instead, I played c6. My logic is that I thought my mate would probably “feel” the tension, capture dxc6, and I would win development by recapturing by developing my queen’s knight (Nxc6). And that’s what happened after (3. c4) – a very interesting and committal move to hold onto the d-pawn, but after (3… Nf6), my mate opted to trade anyway.

Next move (5. Bg5), ostensibly pinning my knight to the queen; so hmm… (5… Bc5), to set up a potential bishop sacrifice capture of the f2-pawn with check (a brilliant move!) as a tactic to unpin the knight and capture White’s bishop! And it worked – (6. Nc3? Bxf2+!! 7. Kxf2 Ng4+ 8. Ke1 Qxg5). Here, I felt a bit smug, finished my first glass of wine, and then started playing in an unreasonably aggressive manner… 🤪

White brought their queen’s knight to the d5 square, a powerful attack position. The risk is Nc7 which comes with an absolute fork of my king and a8-rook. However, rather than sensibly castling the king out of danger, I took the view that it’ll be no problem to trade the rook for their knight as it will end up stuck in the corner. Instead, I went for an unbalanced attack (9… Ne3) and was immediately punished by White’s (10. Nf3) counterattacking my queen! Doubling-down, I decided to trade off my knight (10… Nxg2+ 11. Bxg2 Qxg2?!) and thought, “it’ll be fine”. Actually, I was rapidly and decidedly “not fine” despite being up on material as my queen was on the wrong side of the board by herself, and White had a powerful counterattack with the knight pair and their rook on the g-file, which I had opened up for them!

Move 16, I thought I had trapped White’s knight but I blundered by moving the wrong pawn. Wine! White now forked my king and h8-rook with their second knight and they were well on the way of getting both knights in the opponent’s corners… interesting! 🤣

At this point, I knew that I was completely losing, but I was fine with it. I thought that my only chance now was to see whether I could wrangle a draw by forced repetition through giving repeated checks. White’s king was very exposed and like me, they had focussed entirely on attack rather than defence! My opportunity came on move 22 when White played (22. Rg8+). My mate commented in the game that this was an interesting move that he thought might be bad… He was angling to SACRIFICE THE ROOK (😄) to draw my king onto g8, so that he could infiltrate with his queen on d5 with check.

I admire the gumption and the romance of the move! I could see what he was doing: (22… Kxg8 23. Qd5+ Kxh8 24. Qf7), and dr magneto is now one move away from checkmate with Qf8. Except, the queen never gets to move again, and the evaluation has gone from [+M10 → 0.00]!

White’s queen had infiltrated, which meant that it was no longer capable of providing defence of her king. White’s remaining knight was on a8 – incapable of influencing the game. White’s queenside rook had yet to move and will not have an opportunity to do so in the game. I now chase White’s king with my queen, and then the combination of my queen and knight. Move 27, I miss a sequence where I could force-win White’s queen with a royal fork with my knight, but it was hard to see with a couple of glasses of wine on board! We play on for a few more moves, and I discussed with White that we were eventually going to arrive at a threefold repetition. If I didn’t give a check, White would end the game with checkmate… so I had to give checks each turn, and I could do so indefinitely. We make a gentleman’s agreement to a draw, ordered another glass of wine each, and switched colours for game 2!

Second game; I played the Vienna Game (of course!) and dr magneto with the black pieces responded with (2… d6), what I dub the “Philidor-ish” Defense. I strike out with (3. d4) and Black counterattacked with (3… f5); fascinating! At some point in the past, I had analysed this and I knew it was a mistake, but it’s fantastic chaotic chess! 😜

I decided to be a bit principled here so (4. dxe5) and Black can’t immediately recapture with (4… dxe5) as it would open the d-file and I would whack their queen forcing Black to give up castling rights. Black sensibly develops their queen’s knight first (4… Nc6) and here, I decided to call Black’s f5 bluff and captured their pawn (5. exf5?!). I knew that this probably wasn’t accurate (it wasn’t!) but after (5… Bxf5), I now had a move that sometimes occurs in the von Hennig Gambit line, which is the immediate (6. g4), attacking Black’s bishop with the pawn supported by the queen along the light square diagonal. I noted that Black’s king was potentially rather exposed along their light squares after having moved, and lost, their f-pawn. Stockfish called this move a mistake, but “it was fine”!

A couple more moves, and some trades, and we enter the middlegame on move 10 with Black castling long. Like the first game, I had delayed castling, and had it in my mind that I might not castle at all to focus on attacking! I form a battery with my queen and light square bishop along the long diagonal – this puts long term pressure on White’s defensive pawns after castling.

With Black’s king now on the c-file, I also saw a devious tactic… The c-file was closed and I rather thought that Black would capture my c-pawn for me with their bishop if I left it hanging – which they did (12… Bxc2). Now, I potentially won tempo with (13. Rc1), attacking Black’s bishop, but more importantly, it meant that after the bishop went away, Black’s c6-pawn would be potentially pinned to their king. As it happened, Black attempted to counter my attack on their bishop, with an attack of my queen with (13… e4??). This was a blunder – whenever pawns move forwards, they weaken the defences behind them, and in this case, it was the diagonals to their king. Firstly (14. Qf5+ Kc7), and then (15. Rxc2), cleanly capturing Black’s offside bishop.

Unfortunately for dr magneto, the end was nigh as their king was just too exposed and too many of Black’s pieces had yet to develop (the queen’s knight, bishop and rook). I found a beautiful sequence using the c-pawn pin I saw before starting with (16. Bf4+) and Black blocked the check (16… Rd6) rather than having their king exposed further by running away in front of their pawns (16… Kb6). However, after trades (17. Bxd6+ Qxd6) I had a lovely move striking emotional damage, (18. Nb5+!). This was a seemingly impossible royal fork as the b5 square was ostensibly defended by Black’s c6-pawn, except that the knight attack also reveals a discovered pin by my c2-rook – the tactic I saw several moves ago! I was very pleased with that move. 😁

A few moves later, I walked my king to a defensive bunker of pawns on the kingside. Black recognised that the game was lost as they were down 11 points of material, and dr magneto graciously resigned. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to never forget to have fun with chess. Play some casual unrated games – whether OTB or online – and don’t worry about gaining or losing points! Play some chaotic aggressive moves, just to see what would happen!

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/54QM4W4iza
Game 2: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/26UsFFUryC

[Event "Casual game"]
[Site "Huelo, Newtown NSW"]
[Date "2024.02.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "dr magneto"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/game_analysis_self/5d20852e-d62b-11ee-81d6-49f99eba0d62.2cacdc74.160x160o.fbd82afc18a7@2x.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.100x100o.671ef4f371ed@3x.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[Termination "Draw"]

1. d4 e5 2. d5 $6 {[%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persiacstent;true][%c_arrow
d4e5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] Englund Gambit
Declined} 2... c6 3. c4 Nf6 4. dxc6 $6 {[%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a2a3;keyPressed;none;from;a2;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false]} 4... Nxc6 5. Bg5 $6
{[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a2a3;keyPressed;none;from;a2;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false]} 5... Bc5 $2
{[%c_effect c5;square;c5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d8b6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;b6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b6;persistent;false] Suboptimal, but I was
banking on a bishop sacrifice on f2 with check tactic, to unpin my knight $1} 6.
Nc3 $2 {[%c_effect c3;square;c3;type;Mistake;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]} 6... Bxf2+ $3
{[%c_effect f2;square;f2;type;Brilliant;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f2;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false] And it worked $1} 7.
Kxf2 Ng4+ $1 {[%c_effect g4;square;g4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false,f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false,g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g4f2;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;f2;persistent;false,d8g5;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false]
Knight unpinned with a discovered attack on White's bishop $1} 8. Ke1 Qxg5 9. Nd5
Ne3 $2 {[%c_effect e3;square;e3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%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] Overly aggressive $1
Short castling the king out of danger would have been the sensible approach.}
10. Nf3 Nxg2+ $4 {[%c_effect g2;square;g2;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g5h6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false,g2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g2;persistent;false]
Again, this was overly aggressive and the attack has no steam left with only the
queen} 11. Bxg2 Qxg2 $6 {[%c_effect
g2;square;g2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g5d8;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d8;persistent;false]} 12. Rg1 $1 {[%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 12... Qh3 13. Nc7+ Kd8 14. Nxa8 e4
15. Ng5 $2 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g1g3;keyPressed;none;from;g1;opacity;0.8;to;g3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g3;persistent;false]} 15... Qf5 $2
{[%c_effect f5;square;f5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h3h2;keyPressed;none;from;h3;opacity;0.8;to;h2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h2;persistent;false]} 16. h4 $2 {[%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1d5;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false]} 16... f6 $4
{[%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false][%c_arrow
h7h6;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false]} 17. Nf7+ Ke7
18. Rxg7 $6 {[%c_effect g7;square;g7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f7h8;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false] White is completely
winning. However, I was gunning to see whether I could counterattack to force a
draw $1} 18... Qa5+ 19. Kf1 Qf5+ $6 {[%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7f8;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false]} 20. Kg2 Qf4 $6
{[%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7f8;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;f8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false]} 21. Nxh8+ Kf8 22.
Rg8+ $4 {[%c_effect g8;square;g8;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g8;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g7f7;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false] White saw a
possible attack combination with Qd5+ but this was an unnecessary piece
sacrifice and White liquidates their advantage $1} 22... Kxg8 23. Qd5+ $2
{[%c_effect d5;square;d5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e1;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false]} 23... Kxh8 $1
{[%c_effect h8;square;h8;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
h8;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false] And we're back to
[0.00]} 24. Qf7 Qg4+ $1 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false]} 25. Kf2 Qxh4+ 26. Ke3
Qg5+ 27. Kxe4 $4 {[%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] This is a blunder as
Black can force a royal fork. However, I didn't see the pattern...} 27... Qe5+ $2
{[%c_arrow
g5g4;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} ({Winning tactic   $1} 27... Qg4+ 28.
Ke3 Qd4+ 29. Kf3 Ne5+ {[%c_arrow
e5f3;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,e5f7;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false]})
28. Kd3 Nb4+ 29. Kd2 Qd4+ 30. Ke1 Nc2+ 31. Kf1 Ne3+ 32. Kf2 Qf4+ 33. Ke1 $1
{[%c_effect e1;square;e1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 33... Nc2+ 34. Kd1
Ne3+ $1 {[%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;GreatFind;persistent;true,h8;square;h8;type;DrawBlack,d1;square;d1;type;DrawWhite]
We discuss that the position is drawn as there is little choice other than
forced repetition as the best move. We agree to a draw $1 GG $1} 1/2-1/2


[Event "Casual game"]
[Site "Huelo, Newtown NSW"]
[Date "2024.02.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "dr magneto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.100x100o.671ef4f371ed@3x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/game_analysis_self/5d20852e-d62b-11ee-81d6-49f99eba0d62.2cacdc74.160x160o.fbd82afc18a7@2x.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 {Vienna Game} 2... d6 {The \"Philidor-ish\" Defense to the
Vienna} 3. d4 f5 $2 {[%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] A mistake [+2]} 4.
dxe5 Nc6 5. exf5 $6 {[%c_arrow
f1b5;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false][%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 5... Bxf5 6. g4 $2 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f1b5;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false] A provocative move $1 I
thought that this was clever but Stockfish doesn't like it and calls it a
mistake [0.00]} 6... Bg6 $6 {[%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f5e6;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] Inaccurate [+0.8]} 7.
Nf3 Nxe5 $6 {[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Inaccurate
[+1.3]} 8. Nxe5 Qe7 $6 {[%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
e7;square;e7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Inaccurate [+1.7]} 9. Qe2 dxe5 $6
{[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7e5;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] Inaccurate [+2.4]}
10. Bd2 $2 {[%c_arrow
c1g5;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake [+1]. Surprisingly, Bg5 is
the best move. The reason is that Black's queen cannot capture the bishop on g5
as Qb5+ comes with a fork of the b-pawn, which is a powerful attack on Black's
queenside.} 10... O-O-O 11. Qf3 $2 {[%c_arrow
h2h4;keyPressed;none;from;h2;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A bit slow [-0.4]. Stockfish suggests
castling long, or h4 to aim for Bg5.} 11... c6 $6 {[%c_arrow
e7f6;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Inaccurate [+0.6]} 12. Bg2 $6
{[%c_arrow
e1c1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false][%c_effect
g2;square;g2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Inaccurate - castling long is
preferred [0.00]} 12... Bxc2 13. Rc1 e4 $4 {[%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] Black critically
weakens the diagonals to the king  $1 [+5]} 14. Qf5+ $1 {[%c_effect
f5;square;f5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false]} 14... Kc7 $6
{[%c_arrow
c8b8;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;b8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false][%c_effect
c7;square;c7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Inaccurate [+6.3]} 15. Rxc2 Nf6
16. Bf4+ Rd6 $2 {[%c_arrow
c7b6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;b6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;b6;persistent;false][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Blocking with a piece is not usually
preferable when the king can run [+9]} 17. Bxd6+ Qxd6 18. Nb5+ $1 {[%c_arrow
b5c7;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false,b5d6;keyPressed;none;from;b5;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,c2c6;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false,c6c7;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Royal fork, with a discovered pin
of the c-pawn to the king  $1} 18... Kb8 19. Nxd6 Bxd6 20. Bxe4 Bb4+ 21. Kf1 Rd8
22. Kg2 {[%c_effect g2;square;g2;type;Winner] King walked into safety - Black
opts to resign. GG  $1} 1-0