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This was a game I’d recently completed against another Team Australia member, @theminorkey in an Easter Tournament. They’d crushed me in the first match with White, playing an Italian so I was looking to equalise in this match, and of course, I played the Vienna Game with White!

Black responded with the king’s knight, Falkbeer Variation, I play the Vienna Gambit, and they decline the gambit with d6 (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 3. d6). Those of you who are Vienna Gambit aficionados will know that there is only one good response to the (Falkbeer) Vienna Gambit, which is d5, entering the Main Line. The second-best move is indeed declining with d6, and curiously, the chess.com analytic engine labelled this a “book move”. I’d recently started using the new update to Stockfish, version 16.1 NNUE for analyses for my videos and blogs, and it gave an evaluation of [+0.5] to the position (advantage White), which to my recollection is more favourable than older versions of Stockfish.

The simple tactical idea for White is that we want to take the full centre with d4, but to do that, we’ll need to double defend that square. Otherwise, after d4, and captures-captures with exd4 Qxd4, Black wins tempo with Nc6. So first, we must develop our king’s knight (4. Nf3).

Black then “delay-accepted” the gambit with (4… exf4) and White’s best move is clear; (5. d4) as per our previous idea and opening the diagonal for the dark square bishop to win back the pawn.

One of the things about the Vienna Gambit Declined 3… d6 lines at the beginner-intermediate level, is that many moves that seem to “make sense” for Black are relative inaccuracies. Although White doesn’t have a killer move in the opening, it is often possible to have a winning advantage by the middlegame with the accumulation of incremental gains.

Case in point, Black now played (5… Bg4). This move seems to make sense, pinning the knight to the queen. However, it’s suboptimal as White will be able to chase the bishop away, gaining tempo, or Black will need to trade their bishop for White’s knight. Three moves later, that’s exactly what happens (8. h3 Bxf3?! 9. Qxf3). The extraordinary thing here is that although there is material equality, White has a favourable evaluation of [+3 to +4]! This can be understood from the position: White is full developed, has control of the centre, and can castle in either direction. On the other hand, Black’s position is cramped, and they cannot castle immediately.

On move 10, I castle long, and Black opted to advance their queen’s knight (10… Nb6?!), hoping to gain space with an attack on my seemingly hanging c4-bishop. However, they should have castled their king out of the centre and into safety, as we shall see. Stockfish identified that I could ignore the threat to the bishop with an immediate attack with e5. This is as there is a double-attack with the e-pawn on the f6-knight, and the queen on the b7-pawn. Moreover, Black’s queen is potentially very exposed on the e-file as it could get pinned by one of White’s rooks moving to e1 should the e-file open.

In the game, I did see e5, but opted to play (11. Bb3) first. Although this is less accurate, it does mean that White is less critically exposed should they make a mistake! The next move, I play (12. e5) and Black’s position completely crumbles… (12… dxe5 13. dxe5) and I reveal an attack on Black’s queen with the opening of the d-file! To understand how dire the position is for Black, Stockfish recommends in this position that Black’s best move is to long castle and to sacrifice the queen! Black blocked the attack on their queen with (13… Nfd5), but I control the d5 square with FOUR pieces! So, (14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5), and once again, one of Stockfish’s top recommendations is for Black to sacrifice their queen to trade off one of my attacking pieces.

Instead, Black attempts to counterattack with their queen with (15… Qa4??), but it’s just not quick enough. At high depth, Stockfish can see a forced checkmate in no more than [+M13]. Obviously, this is impossible to calculate for a human, but the weakness if fundamentally a result of Black’s king being trapped in the centre of the board, facing open centre-files, controlled by my queen and rooks! This was why it was critical for Black to have castled their king back on move 10!

What follows was a very nice tactical pattern with my light square bishop and queen on the long light square diagonal, slicing the board in half! Firstly, (16. Bxb7) removing White’s b-pawn and the defender of the c6 square. This then allowed (17. Bc6+), a royal fork [+M6]! To delay checkmate, Black couldn’t even trade their queen for my bishop, but they did (17… Qxc6), bringing forward the mate [+M2]. The king, trapped in the centre files could not escape and was forced to bongcloud to his doom (18. Qxc6+ Ke7 19. Qd7#). GG!

The big takeaway from this game is that the first imperative is king safety. In this game, Black’s delayed castling in the early middlegame while behind on development ended up being a strategic mistake that lost them the game.

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/640141157

[Event "Aussies Easter Bilbies 2024 ratings 1001 to 1250 - Round 1"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.03.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "theminorkey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/aussies-easter-bilbies-2024-ratings-1001-to-1250"]
[CurrentPosition "1r3b1r/p1pQkpp1/7p/4P3/5B2/7P/PPP3P1/2KR3R b - - 2 19"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C28"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Falkbeer-Vienna-Gambit-3...d6-4.Nf3"]
[UTCDate "2024.03.30"]
[UTCTime "05:08:14"]
[WhiteElo "1204"]
[BlackElo "1116"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "05:08:14"]
[EndDate "2024.03.30"]
[EndTime "10:43:03"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/640141157"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/5460218.46278ee2.50x50o.9a435d616307.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 71:59:51]} 1... e5 {[%clk 71:58:31]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 71:57:17]} 2...
Nf6 {[%clk 71:56:27]} 3. f4 {[%clk 71:58:11] Vienna Game: Falkbeer, Vienna
Gambit} 3... d6 {[%clk 71:58:57] ... gambit declined with 3... d6 [+0.5]} 4. Nf3
{[%clk 71:59:48]} 4... exf4 {[%clk 71:59:40]} 5. d4 {[%clk 71:58:39] Incremental
gains in the opening. Black's e-pawn has been deflected to the f-file and will
likely be recaptured. White gains full control of the centre with pawns and
knights [+0.7]} 5... Bg4 {[%clk 71:58:20][%c_arrow
d6d5;keyPressed;none;from;d6;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] Somewhat inaccurate
[+1.1]} 6. Bxf4 {[%clk 71:58:47]} 6... h6 $2 {[%clk 71:56:08][%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
b8c6;keyPressed;none;from;b8;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] Black's impulse to
defend g5 is a mistake in setting. It's more important for Black to develop
[+2.2]} 7. Bc4 {[%clk 71:58:51][%c_arrow
h2h3;keyPressed;none;from;h2;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] Immediately
attacking misplaced bishop is better} 7... Nbd7 $6 {[%clk 71:56:56][%c_arrow
f8e7;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false][%c_effect
d7;square;d7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A relative inaccuracy as Black now
hems in their own light square bishop [+3]} 8. h3 {[%clk 71:51:29]} 8... Bxf3 $6
{[%clk 71:57:53][%c_arrow
g4h5;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This trade of Black's bishop for
White's knight is disadvantageous for Black as White develops their queen, and
Black loses their bishop pair. As the bishop wasn't trapped, it would have been
better to play Bh5. [} 9. Qxf3 {[%clk 71:54:43]} 9... Qe7 {[%clk 71:59:21]} 10.
O-O-O {[%clk 71:59:07]} 10... Nb6 $6 {[%clk 71:59:44][%c_effect
b6;square;b6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e8c8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false] A relative
inaccuracy. Although this immediately give an attack on White's bishop, it isn't
coordinated. Castling the king to safety is probably more important [+4.8]} 11.
Bb3 $6 {[%clk 71:53:06][%c_effect
b3;square;b3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e4e5;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] This move still makes
sense but is somewhat inaccurate [+5 $37 +3.9]. The engine identifies that the
immediate e5 is better as there is a double-attack with the e-pawn on the
f6-knight, and the queen on the b7-pawn.  Moreover, Black's queen is potentially
very exposed on the e-file as it could get pinned by one of White's rook moving
to e1 should the e-file open.} 11... Qd7 $6 {[%clk 71:36:35][%c_arrow
e8c8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false][%c_effect
d7;square;d7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Black's reluctance to castle long
was an inaccuracy [+4.8]} 12. e5 {[%clk 71:58:49] I did see e5 before, but opted
to play it in this move order, which worked out fine $1} 12... dxe5 $6 {[%clk
71:44:19][%c_arrow
f6h7;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;h7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h7;persistent;false][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An inaccuracy [+6.6] as...} 13.
dxe5 {[%clk 71:59:39] ... dxe5 reveals an attack on Black's queen $1} 13... Nfd5 $6
{[%clk 71:58:23][%c_arrow
e8c8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] And to understand how dire the
position is for Black, Stockfish recommends in this position that Black's best
move is to castle long, and sacrifice the queen $1 [+7.5]} 14. Nxd5 {[%clk
71:59:27]} 14... Nxd5 {[%clk 68:37:58]} 15. Bxd5 {[%clk 71:59:14]} 15... Qa4 $4
{[%clk 71:58:47][%c_arrow
f8c5;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false,d7d5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false,d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false][%c_effect
a4;square;a4;type;Blunder;persistent;true] Black's best options were to play Bc5
to a goal to castle kingside, or, trade the queen for the bishop. This
aggressive counterattack makes sense, but just isn't fast enough. At high depth,
Stockfish finds a forced checkmate in no more than [+M13].} 16. Bxb7 {[%clk
71:56:48]} 16... Rb8 {[%clk 71:58:44][%c_arrow
f8a3;keyPressed;none;from;f8;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false] Ba3 delays checkmate
the most... [+M6]} 17. Bc6+ {[%clk 71:47:50][%c_arrow
c6e8;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,c6a4;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false]
Royal fork $1} 17... Qxc6 {[%clk 71:37:42][%c_arrow
e8e7;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false] Ke7 delays checkmate
the longest [+M2]} 18. Qxc6+ {[%clk 72:00:00]} 18... Ke7 {[%clk 71:59:47]} 19.
Qd7# {[%clk 71:59:23][%c_effect
c1;square;c1;type;Winner,e7;square;e7;type;CheckmateBlack] GG $1} 1-0