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First, a proposition:

Casual recreational chess should be fun!
– vitualis the Chess Noob

This is the philosophic position that I’ve adopted now while on my chess journey. Yes, I still want to learn and improve, but seeing my ELO rating go up isn’t my primary goal. Rather, my goal is that I want to enjoy the playing and learning of chess. And for me personally, an insight that I’ve developed about myself, is that a good amount of my enjoyment in chess is not simply in winning; it’s the intellectual stimulation, being part of an engaged community of enthusiasts, and in learning about the history of certain openings and lines, and the former chess masters who played them.

Now, that doesn’t mean that winning a game doesn’t matter. It is of course the proximal purpose and goal of a match. However, equating winning as the only or primary purpose for playing, in participating in the human endeavour of chess, is a pathway to disappointment and frustration. After all, people will lose half the time on average. Chess isn’t work for me, and I suspect that it isn’t for the vast majority of people playing online chess. Play for fun!

And with this in mind, there are many styles and approaches that you can take to chess. One can play in a very theoretically solid manner, follow opening principles, learn opening theory, etc. This is of course, a very reasonable and arguably the most appropriate approach to learning to play chess competitively.

However, one can also consider the Romantic approach to chess, which was the dominant style in the 18th and 19th centuries. That is, playing with an aggressive tactical flair, and knowingly choosing risky manoeuvres, because it’s beautiful; because it’s fun! And to consider: why not take some risks in online chess when for most of us, it is fundamentally a low- to zero-stakes activity?

With that digression out of the way, let’s have a look at this game!

My usual approach when I’m playing a game for fun is to try to play a gambit. These are generally suboptimal in some way, but the openings trade material/evaluation accuracy for activity and tactical possibilities. In this game, I had the White pieces, and I played the Max Lange, Vienna Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4). Black’s best response is to accept the gambit, but they decided to respond with (3… d6), which is an inaccuracy. I commonly find that Black at the beginner-intermediate level rarely knows how to deal with this version of the Vienna Gambit as it is almost never covered by chess content creators.

We have some centre trades, and theoretically, I know that I should be ahead from having played similar positions before. Then on move 7, Black played (7… Qe7?!). Hmmm… Their tactic was clear, putting two attackers on my e4-pawn. In my mind, I kind of knew that Black’s move was probably a mistake, but I couldn’t see how to punish it during the match… However, after thinking and calculating for a minute-and-a-half, I tripped over my own feet and blunder by playing the symmetrical queen move (8. Qe2??)! Almost immediately, I saw that I had just hung my d4-knight!

The right move was to just castle (8. O-O) as Black’s queen’s attack the e4 square is illusory. If Black’s f6-knight captures the pawn (Nxe4), White can capture back (Nxe4), and if Black’s queen then takes (Qxe4), then they blunder their queen to a lovely pin down the e-file (Re1)!

But in the actual game, overthinking, and then impulsively making a move resulted in a clean blunder and Black wins my knight for free (8… Nxd4). Oh well! 🤣

And when one plays a relatively aggressive opening, one must be prepared for an opening mistake or blunder. However, this isn’t the end of the match! With lots of pieces left, there is always the opportunity to claw back the disadvantage in the middlegame, or at least, angle strategically for a draw! I really enjoy games where the goal is a comeback from a mistake as it allows a certain freedom. When you are already LOSING, the impact of risky tactics is different. If it fails, not much is lost – you were losing already. However, if it succeeds, potentially the game turns around!

So, firstly, my approach was that I needed to consolidate and get my king to safety. Black opted to opposite-side castle, which potentially favoured more tactical and aggressive approaches. I had some small development advantages, in that my pieces were largely developed, while Black’s king’s bishop was blocked in, which also hemmed in their king’s rook. In the short term, my material disadvantage wasn’t necessarily felt or expressed on the board.

I judiciously made a few trades in the centre of the board, and especially on move 15, traded my bishop for Black’s d4-knight. My logic for Bxd4 was to remove a very active piece and attacker, doubling Black’s d-pawns, and opening the c-file which exposed Black’s king. Black then continues to trade a set of rooks (which is a correct approach while they are up in material), but on move 17, I was excited with the position. According to Stockfish, Black is definitively winning, giving an evaluation of [-4.2]. However, I had a good opportunity of a counterattack with my queen, and my rook controlled the fully open e-file.

Black perhaps underappreciated the risk from my queen and played (17… Be7??). This move makes sense at a surface level; black wanted to develop their bishop which also opens the back rank for their rook. However, this is a blunder [-4.2 → -0.1] that practically equalises! The problem for Black is that their queen is the only defender of their bishop on e7, and after (18. Qxa7), the black queen is overloaded! Their queen was needed to defend their back rank but cannot defend their bishop at the same time.

Black makes the attempt (18… Qc7??) but this was a cascading blunder [-0.1 → +4.7] as (19. Qa8+) skewers Black’s king against their h8-rook. I now not only equalise but have gained a winning advantage! We have the same number of pieces, but I have a rook for Black’s bishop. I have a queenside pawn majority. And on the clock, I had eight minutes to Black’s three!

The one disadvantage that I did have was that my queen was temporarily a bit stuck on Black’s back rank. Black makes a great counterattack, but I find the right move and force a trade of knights. With time ticking away and their attack broken, Black suffers emotional damage. The position is still tricky to navigate, but after they make their move on move 26, Black doesn’t wait for my response and resigns, psychologically defeated. GG!

The big takeaway in this game is to not be afraid to take risks in the opening, and even if an opening gambit fails, roll with the disadvantage, and play on! Making a comeback in the middlegame is enormously satisfying!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/106533462807

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.04.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "JDTR24"]
[Result "1-0"]
[CurrentPosition "5Q2/1p1k1ppp/3p1b2/3P4/5P2/4q3/PPP3PP/R6K w - -"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-Max-Lange-Vienna-Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2024.04.11"]
[UTCTime "00:18:08"]
[WhiteElo "1299"]
[BlackElo "1262"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "00:18:08"]
[EndDate "2024.04.11"]
[EndTime "00:48:43"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/106533462807"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/69652098.b8cc819f.50x50o.47bc3ff4cf64.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "25"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:10]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:05.9]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:15.7]} 2...
Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:12.1]} 3. f4 {[%clk 0:15:23.6] Vienna Game: Max Lange, Vienna
Gambit [-0.7]} 3... d6 $6 {[%clk 0:14:45.9][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e5f4;keyPressed;none;from;e5;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false] Declining with d6 is
inaccurate [+0.3]} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:25.5]} 4... Nf6 {[%clk 0:14:43.3]} 5. d4
{[%clk 0:15:09.8]} 5... exd4 {[%clk 0:13:53.6]} 6. Nxd4 {[%clk 0:15:11.8]} 6...
Bd7 {[%clk 0:13:48.1]} 7. Bc4 {[%clk 0:14:04.4]} 7... Qe7 $6 {[%clk
0:13:19.7][%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6d4;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] This gives a
double-attack on the e4-pawn, but it's illusory and an inaccuracy [+0.8]} 8.
Qe2 $4 {[%clk 0:12:44.8][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false,g1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g1;persistent;false][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e1g1;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;g1;persistent;false] However, after
thinking and calculating for a minute-and-a-half, I trip over my own feet and
blunder $1 Almost immediately after making the move, I saw that I had just hung my
knight $1} (8. O-O {[%c_arrow
e7e4;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false,f6e4;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] Although it might
look like that Black has two attackers on the e-pawn while White has only one
defender, Black's queen cannot safely capture the pawn...} 8... Nxe4 $4
{[%c_effect e4;square;e4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] If Black captures,
then they lose their knight...} 9. Nxe4 {After this capture, Black cannot
capture back...} 9... Qxe4 $4 {[%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] ... because if they
do, the queen will be lost $1} 10. Re1 {[%c_arrow
e1e4;keyPressed;none;from;e1;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false,e4e8;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false,e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false]
Black loses the queen to a pin.}) 8... Nxd4 {[%clk 0:13:22.1] And Black is
completely winning out of the opening... [-4.1]} 9. Qd3 {[%clk 0:12:14.2] I knew
that I was in a losing position... I decided to play on to see whether I could
claw back the disadvantage, or perhaps, create the opportunity for a draw $1} 9...
c5 {[%clk 0:12:47.2]} 10. O-O {[%clk 0:12:16.2]} 10... O-O-O {[%clk 0:10:07.6]}
11. Be3 {[%clk 0:11:43.9]} 11... Bc6 {[%clk 0:08:29.1]} 12. Bd5 {[%clk
0:11:23.6]} 12... Bxd5 {[%clk 0:07:22.3]} 13. exd5 {[%clk 0:11:10.5]} 13... Re8
{[%clk 0:06:44.8]} 14. Rae1 {[%clk 0:10:29]} 14... Qd7 {[%clk 0:04:11.4]} 15.
Bxd4 {[%clk 0:10:26.9] White has a range of good moves (b4, f5, h3). My logic
for Bxd4 (which is still good), is to remove a very active piece and attacker,
doubling Black's d-pawns, and opening the c-file and exposing Black's king.}
15... cxd4 {[%clk 0:04:18.9]} 16. Qxd4 {[%clk 0:10:13.5]} 16... Rxe1 {[%clk
0:04:17.6]} 17. Rxe1 {[%clk 0:10:16.5] I was very happy with this transformation
with my rook controlling the open e-file. Black's bishop is constrained by their
own d6-pawn. So despite Black being a piece ahead, this isn't necessarily
\"felt\" as their king's bishop and rook have yet to develop. At the same time,
I've got a very nice attack with my queen on their a7-pawn $1} 17... Be7 $4 {[%clk
0:04:25.8][%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false,b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false][%c_arrow
c8b8;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;b8;persistent;false] This move makes
sense at a surface level; black wanted to develop their bishop which also opens
the back rank for their rook. However, this is a blunder [-4.2 $37 -0.1] that
practically equalises $1 The problem for Black is that their queen is the only
defender of their bishop on e7, and very soon, it will be overloaded $1} 18. Qxa7
{[%clk 0:09:55.1]} 18... Qc7 $4 {[%clk 0:04:15.4][%c_effect
c7;square;c7;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false,d8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d8;persistent;false][%c_arrow
e7d8;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;d8;persistent;false] Faced with back
rank problems, Black attempted to defend it with their queen. However, this was
a cascading blunder $1 [-0.1 $37 4.7]} 19. Qa8+ {[%clk 0:08:30.2][%c_arrow
a8c8;keyPressed;none;from;a8;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false,c8h8;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false,h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false]}
19... Kd7 {[%clk 0:03:37.5][%c_arrow
c7b8;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;b8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false] For Black, trading
queens and then losing their bishop (Rxe7) is the least bad option according to
Stockfish. However, that would also give away any chance for a counterattack.
Black, understandably, opt to keep their queen.} 20. Qxh8 {[%clk 0:08:36.2]}
20... Qc5+ {[%clk 0:03:40.8]} 21. Kh1 {[%clk 0:08:40.6]} 21... Ng4 {[%clk
0:03:48.3]} 22. Ne4 $1 {[%clk 0:07:23.7][%c_arrow
e4f2;keyPressed;none;from;e4;opacity;0.8;to;f2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false,e4;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] There's an imperative to defend the
f2 square} 22... Nf2+ {[%clk 0:03:51.3]} 23. Nxf2 {[%clk 0:07:31.3]} 23... Qxf2
{[%clk 0:03:58.8]} 24. Ra1 {[%clk 0:06:36.1]} 24... Bf6 {[%clk 0:03:29.7]} 25.
Qb8 {[%clk 0:06:18.9]} 25... Qb6 {[%clk 0:03:06.5] Black tries to defend
valiantly, but with time ticking away, they've already suffered emotional
damage...} 26. Qf8 {[%clk 0:05:41.6] The challenge was getting my queen off the
8th rank, and I now have Qxf7+ next turn $1} 26... Qe3 {[%clk 0:02:47.1][%c_effect
h1;square;h1;type;Winner,d7;square;d7;type;ResignBlack] Black makes one last
move, but resigns before I can respond, psychologically defeated $1 GG $1} 1-0