---

This was another game from the internal Team Australia tournament for members rated 950-1200, and this was another game where I play some entirely unsound aggressive tactics, mostly for fun and to see what would happen!

The game started with a von Hennig Gambit against my opponent’s Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4: Bc4!?) and Black responded with the very good (4… b5). Immediately striking down the queenside is a good way of fighting back against the von Hennig – forcing White to move their bishop a second, and possibly third time, with the possibility of trapping the bishop.

That’s what Black attempted! However, after (5… a5), I got an evil idea in my head that I wanted to implement. I knew that it was almost certainly unsound (it was!) but the idea took root and I wanted to play it. What I saw was that rather than saving my bishop from being trapped with (6. a4), I would capture Black’s hanging pawn and place my knight in the centre of the board (6. Nxe4). This definitely hangs my bishop to being trapped after (6. a4), but I was expecting that! Black has now fully committed with many moves of their queenside pawns with no other development, and I now sacrificed my bishop with (Bxf7+)!

My tactical idea was that I now had an attack on Black’s king, with the hole in their f-file, with my knight and queen!

I think this idea might have legs in a very fast time control, but it simply didn’t work in daily! Black managed to weave their way through the tricky attacks, and on move 12, my attack was completely deflated!

At this point, I was looking for opportunities to perhaps force a draw by repetition, but Black managed to force a queen trade as well. Oh well…! 😅

By move 16, things had traded down, and we were deep in the middlegame. Stockfish thinks I’m losing – I thought I was losing in the game, but I did have a little bit of compensation. Black’s king had lost the right to castle. And their pawns were in three islands, with an isolated e-pawn. My pawn structure was pristine, and I still had castling rights. Strategic approach: try to use tactics like pins, avoid simplifying and losing material, and if possible, see whether we can return to material, and preferably, piece number equality before entering the endgame.

On move 21, I noticed another thing. In my mind, Black’s best approach would have been to force trades to simplify down to an endgame. However, on that move, they opted not to play the obvious move – to trade rooks. What I took away from this was that they probably had an aversion to material loss, EVEN WHEN the trade was balanced. This was good for me because it meant that if I didn’t force the issue, I could hold onto my rooks as well! In this game, holding onto material was key to come back from behind, even if to equality.

These handcuffs that Black placed on themselves gave me the tactical advantage I needed. I managed to win a couple of their pawns, and then, set up a good attack on Black’s e-pawn as a target. Black’s advantage started to melt away! On move 33, they made a mistake, and we were back at equality! Black had pretty much hung their knight, but unfortunately, I didn’t see!

At move 37, Black set up a trap, but I managed to see through it. What I didn’t see, however, was that they had also made a mistake in setting the trap, but I had to find it. I had the opportunity to force a series of trades where at the end, we would be left with one rook each, but I would have a 2-pawn advantage in the endgame, with one of those being an outside passed pawn – winning!

I deflected Black’s trap – a potential absolute fork (rook and king) if I made what seemed like an advantageous capture – but missed the winning counterattack, beginning with what seems like an unwise trade down of pieces (38. Bxe7) and then (38… Rxe7 39. Rxe7 Kxe7), and finally, (40. Re4+) an absolute fork of Black’s king and knight!

In the game, I made my first real blunder on move 40. I thought that Black had managed to set up a mating net, but I miscalculated! I saw that Black hand managed to arrange their rook pair and knight well and it appeared that they could force my king to the back rank, and then, ladder mate. However, what I missed what that the “final blow” couldn’t be played by Black as the critical square (e1) was defended by my b4-bishop along the dark square diagonal! So, I was “fine”, but to respond to the non-existent threat, I traded one of my rooks for Black’s knight. In the game, I silently congratulated Black for their great tactical find and I didn’t discover this until analysis!

And so, we entered an endgame – bishop + rook for me, and the rook pair for Black. There were a few pawns each on the kingside files. Although the rook pair is theoretically stronger, they aren’t necessarily the easiest to play. A rook + bishop pair can be surprisingly powerful as they supplement and augment each. From the point where I traded my rook for Black’s knight, we had another 22 moves of dancing and manoeuvring, but I finally got my goal – in a losing game, I managed to wrangle a draw by threefold repetition. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is that you probably shouldn’t play the bishop sacrifice opening in the von Hennig Gambit. Although the attack looks scary, there isn’t quite enough power to make it work.

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/631221395

[Event "Aussies on the move 900-1250 - Round 1"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Madcarrot1"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/aussies-on-the-move-900-1250"]
[CurrentPosition "2r5/1R6/5kpp/1KB5/5PP1/P7/7r/8 w - - 8 63"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "B15"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Caro-Kann-Defense-von-Hennig-Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2024.03.07"]
[UTCTime "04:18:27"]
[WhiteElo "1238"]
[BlackElo "1032"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "Game drawn by repetition"]
[StartTime "04:18:27"]
[EndDate "2024.03.10"]
[EndTime "06:48:03"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/631221395"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/278067461.7444c83b.50x50o.ec9dc2b9dd8c.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 71:43:28]} 1... c6 {[%clk 71:59:44]} 2. d4 {[%clk 71:59:52]} 2...
d5 {[%clk 71:55:57]} 3. Nc3 {[%clk 72:00:00]} 3... dxe4 {[%clk 71:47:00]} 4.
Bc4 $5 {[%clk 72:00:00][%c_effect c4;square;c4;type;Interesting;persistent;true]
Caro-Kann Defense: von Hennig Gambit - Let's go $1 [-0.5]} 4... b5 {[%clk
71:35:00] Well done $1 One of Black's best responses, immediately taking space on
the queenside.} 5. Bb3 {[%clk 71:59:13]} 5... a5 $6 {[%clk 71:50:08][%c_effect
a5;square;a5;type;Inaccuracy;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] This is a very direct
response to attempt to trap the bishop. However, it doesn't work as White has
the simple a4... [+0.3]} 6. Nxe4 $5 {[%clk 71:54:28][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Interesting;persistent;true] However, that's too boring $1 I
decided at this point that I was going to sacrifice my bishop on f7 and
anticipated that Black would play a4. With my knight now on e4, I thought that I
potentially had a very powerful attack punching a hole in Black's f-file, and
then attacking with a combination of knight and queen. This was entirely
speculative and I suspected that it wasn't sound (it's not $1 Stockfish says this
is a \"blunder\"), but it looked like enormous fun and I double Black was
expecting this $1 [-0.3 $37 -2.3]} 6... a4 $1 {[%clk 71:57:40][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
a4;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false] Bishop is trapped, but
I was expecting this...} 7. Bxf7+ {[%clk 71:59:54] Bishop sacrifice $1 And the
game's afoot $1} 7... Kxf7 {[%clk 71:57:12]} 8. Qh5+ {[%clk 71:55:10][%c_arrow
e4g5;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] At this point,
Stockfish evaluation isn't very helpful, as it suggests immediately
consolidating rather than attacking and to live with the roughly [-2 ]
disadvantage. However, this kind of guarantees an easy win for Black. The entire
purpose of this attack was to aim for a crippling mistake by Black before
they've had an opportunity to develop...} 8... g6 $1 {[%clk 71:54:50][%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false]} 9. Qe5 {[%clk
71:59:38] A sneaky tactic, seeing whether I could induce Black to play Bg7, and
then Ng5+} 9... Nf6 {[%clk 71:57:13] But this is the best move, well done $1} 10.
Ng5+ {[%clk 71:59:30]} 10... Ke8 {[%clk 71:57:00]} 11. Ne6 {[%clk 71:59:50]}
11... Bxe6 $1 {[%clk 71:23:29][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] Black plays another
great move, and this kind of nerfs my attack as I don't have a credible attack
with only the queen} 12. Qxe6 {[%clk 71:58:10]} 12... Qxd4 {[%clk 71:58:18]} 13.
Qc8+ {[%clk 71:22:46] At this point, I starting to look for opportunities for
forcing a draw... Obviously my opening sacrificing the bishop has not paid off $1}
13... Qd8 {[%clk 71:15:35]} 14. Qe6 {[%clk 71:57:27]} 14... Bg7 {[%clk
71:05:00]} 15. Nf3 {[%clk 71:59:15] Developing move - also speculatively, Ne5 +
Qf7 checkmate tactic...} 15... Qd5 {[%clk 71:52:52]} 16. Ng5 {[%clk
71:17:43][%c_arrow
e6c8;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false] Stockfish thinks
that Qc8+ is still playable, but I wasn't convinced in the game, so I decided
that in this position, I had to trade queens to avoid a devastating
counterattack by Black...} 16... Qxe6+ {[%clk 71:57:13]} 17. Nxe6 {[%clk
71:54:32] In this position, I'm down 3 points of material, with an unfavourable
evaluation of [-4.5]} 17... Kf7 {[%clk 71:51:48] But I do have a little bit of
compensation. Black's king has lost the right to castle. And their pawns are in
three islands, with a isolated e-pawn. My pawn structure is pristine and still
have castling rights. Strategic approach: try to use tactics like pins, avoid
simplifying and losing material, if possible, see whether we can return to
material, and preferably, piece number equality before entering the endgame.}
18. Nc5 {[%clk 71:56:01]} 18... Nbd7 {[%clk 71:56:35]} 19. Be3 {[%clk 71:58:30]
Here, I was potentially willing to trade one of their knights away, as a knight
pair can be very difficult to deal with, especially when my main active pieces
to counterattack and defend will be rooks.} 19... Rad8 {[%clk 71:58:29]} 20.
O-O-O {[%clk 71:59:02]} 20... Nxc5 {[%clk 71:44:58]} 21. Bxc5 {[%clk 71:56:50]}
21... Ne4 {[%clk 71:57:54] Here, I noted Black's tactical mistake - there were
hesitant to trade down rooks. Their best approach is clearly to trade rooks in
this position, simply, and to force an endgame with numerical piece superiority.
This meant that as long as I gave an option for Black, they probably weren't
going to trade rooks, even it were the best option for them $1} 22. Be3 {[%clk
71:09:35]} 22... b4 {[%clk 71:52:57] Black is clearly looking to push their
queenside pawns...} 23. Rd3 {[%clk 71:58:02] Plan: If Black won't trade rooks,
that gives me a \"turn\" to create a rook battery $1} 23... c5 {[%clk 71:49:09]}
24. Rhd1 {[%clk 71:59:18]} 24... Rd6 {[%clk 71:56:35]} 25. f3 {[%clk 71:06:37]}
25... Nf6 $6 {[%clk 71:45:22][%c_arrow
c5c4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;c4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c4;persistent;false][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] And here, I manage to take
advantage of Black's \"loss aversion\" to push back their knight with my
superior pawn structure $1 I'm still not winning yet though but this is promising $1
[-5.1 $37 -3.8]} 26. Bxc5 {[%clk 71:59:06][%c_arrow
d3d6;keyPressed;none;from;d3;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,c5d6;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,c5b4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;b4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,b4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b4;persistent;false]
Stockfish thinks that Rxd6 is slightly better, but I don't agree, in the context
that my intuition based on Black's moves is that they aren't likely to capture
my rook in return (which is their best move) $1} 26... Bh6+ {[%clk 64:03:37]} 27.
Kb1 {[%clk 71:56:43]} 27... Rc6 $2 {[%clk 71:23:49][%c_arrow
d6c6;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false,d6d3;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Yep, my intuition was right $1 This is
a mistake that hangs yet another pawn $1 [-2.5]} 28. Bxb4 {[%clk 70:07:44] Note:
my c-pawn is now a passed pawn - a new tactical resource $1} 28... Rhc8 {[%clk
70:46:41]} 29. c3 {[%clk 71:58:36]} 29... Nh5 {[%clk 71:59:00]} 30. Rd7 {[%clk
71:58:30] Black's isolated e-pawn is a target $1} 30... Bg5 {[%clk 71:50:08]} 31.
R1d5 {[%clk 71:58:17]} 31... h6 {[%clk 71:55:38]} 32. Ra5 {[%clk 71:38:43]}
32... Nf4 $2 {[%clk 70:41:23][%c_arrow
c6e6;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] A mistake [-2 $37 -0.8] $1} 33. g3 {[%clk
70:32:20]} 33... Ne2 $2 {[%clk 70:29:03][%c_arrow
f4g2;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;g2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g2;persistent;false][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] An inaccuracy, but a very difficult
move to find against the attack. Black is trying to move their knight into the
attack, but this isn't the way... We're back to equality $1 [0.00]} 34. Raa7
{[%clk 69:57:16][%c_arrow
a5e5;keyPressed;none;from;a5;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] But... I was so
focussed on the attack on the e7-pawn, I missed the fact that Black had actually
trapped their knight $1 [-1.3]} 34... Re6 {[%clk 68:51:33]} 35. f4 $6 {[%clk
71:44:22][%c_arrow
a7a4;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A bit inaccurate [-2]. Just
capturing the a4-pawn is best as it renders the a-, b-, and c-pawns all
connected passed pawns $1} 35... Bf6 {[%clk 71:46:46]} 36. Rxa4 {[%clk 71:57:08]}
36... Bxc3 $2 {[%clk 71:50:18][%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g6g5;keyPressed;none;from;g6;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] Black cracks under
pressure, and launches an aggressive attack $1 This is a mistake and we're back to
equality [0.00].} 37. bxc3 {[%clk 71:58:38]} 37... Rxc3 {[%clk 71:59:31] Clever
trick - Black was hoping for Bxc3, and then Nxc3+ absolute fork of the king and
rook $1 But I saw this... though not the best response. In this position, I had a
winning tactic at almost [+3], but I didn't see it.} 38. Kb2 $2 {[%clk
71:59:01][%c_effect b2;square;b2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b4e7;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]} ({This was the
winning line...} 38. Bxe7 Rxe7 39. Rxe7+ Kxe7 40. Re4+ {[%c_arrow
e4e7;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false,e4e2;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false,e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false]
And White now completes the rook and pawn endgame where White has a 3-on-2 on
the kingside, and an outside passed pawn on the a-file. This is easily
winning.}) 38... Rc4 {[%clk 62:46:45]} 39. a3 {[%clk 71:57:42]} 39... Nd4 {[%clk
71:55:12]} 40. Rxd4 $4 {[%clk 71:55:58][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,a7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
a4a7;keyPressed;none;from;a4;opacity;0.8;to;a7;persistent;false] Here, I made a
mistake in calculation. I thought that Black had Rc2+, which would force my king
onto the back rank, and then Re1#. However, I didn't see that the e1 square was
defended by my bishop $1 😖 So, I thought my only option was to trade my rook for
Black's knight... [-3.3]} 40... Rxd4 {[%clk 71:50:10]} 41. Ra7 {[%clk 71:54:34]}
41... Re2+ {[%clk 71:31:56]} 42. Kb3 {[%clk 71:53:47]} 42... Re3+ {[%clk
70:18:26]} 43. Ka4 {[%clk 71:03:36]} 43... Ree4 {[%clk 62:10:25]} 44. Kb5 {[%clk
71:58:09] So, my only real hope was my outside passed pawn. That gave me
something to work with. However, I would also take the opportunity to force a
draw by threefold repetition if it arose $1} 44... Rd5+ {[%clk 71:54:41]} 45. Kc6
{[%clk 71:46:03]} 45... Red4 $4 {[%clk 69:02:30][%c_arrow
d5h5;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false,d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] It's fascinating how DIFFICULT
rook-pawn endgames are $1 This now turns the game into a draw $1} 46. Bxe7 {[%clk
71:57:27]} 46... Ke6 {[%clk 71:58:28]} 47. Bb4 {[%clk 71:57:40]} 47... Rd7
{[%clk 60:16:32]} 48. Ra5 {[%clk 71:14:13]} 48... Rd8 {[%clk 71:50:37]} 49. Re5+
{[%clk 71:39:13]} 49... Kf7 $1 {[%clk 71:43:31][%c_effect
f7;square;f7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f7;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
b4e7;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false,e7d8;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false,e7f6;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false]
Their only good move. One of the things with rook + bishop is you get tactical
forks with the bishop that you can't so easily get with the rook pair.} 50. Re7+
{[%clk 71:50:23]} 50... Kg8 {[%clk 71:32:56]} 51. Re6 {[%clk 71:55:45]} 51...
Rc8+ {[%clk 71:30:56]} 52. Kb5 {[%clk 71:44:21]} 52... Kf7 {[%clk 71:58:06]} 53.
Re7+ {[%clk 71:52:11]} 53... Kg8 {[%clk 71:59:16]} 54. Rb7 {[%clk 71:55:42]}
54... Re4 {[%clk 71:57:48]} 55. Bc5 {[%clk 71:55:36]} 55... Re2 {[%clk
71:59:18]} 56. Rb6 {[%clk 71:58:20]} 56... Kf7 {[%clk 71:47:23]} 57. Rb7+ {[%clk
71:48:27]} 57... Kf6 {[%clk 71:17:06]} 58. g4 {[%clk 71:58:19][%c_arrow
g4h5;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false,f4g5;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,g4f5;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false,f4e5;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false]
Important to create a barrier to stop the king from infiltrating...} 58... Rxh2
{[%clk 71:58:05]} 59. Rb6+ $1 {[%clk 71:48:48][%c_effect
b6;square;b6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b6;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;b6;persistent;false] I saw a good chance
for repetition now with the king trapped on only three ranks...} 59... Kf7
{[%clk 71:50:01]} 60. Rb7+ {[%clk 71:49:18]} 60... Kf6 {[%clk 71:58:42]} 61.
Rb6+ {[%clk 71:59:12]} 61... Kf7 {[%clk 71:59:20]} 62. Rb7+ {[%clk 71:59:17]}
62... Kf6 {[%clk 71:41:33][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;DrawBlack,b5;square;b5;type;DrawWhite] YES $1 Threefold
repetition - snatching a tie out of a defeat $1 GG $1} 1/2-1/2