---

It’s currently school holidays in Sydney and last week, we spent a day in Manly. Mrs Chess Noob, Little Chess Noob and I had a tutorial to learn beach fishing from local fishing guru and YouTuber Alex Bellissimo.

That evening, I spent some time in the hotel bar playing chess on my Chessnut GO and had a massive losing streak… 🥲 I think it was the combination of having had a beer, a bit distracted from being tired, the dim lighting and the small pieces of the GO, but I played like a complete noob, hanging pieces on diagonals, and more than once mistook bishops for pawns! 😅

The next day, however, I played these two very satisfying games against the same opponent and got a boost back to my confidence! 😊

Game 1: The Tricky Giraffe in Vienna!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/114495011661

In the first game, I had the white pieces and played the Giraffe Attack in the Vienna Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. Qg4). My Vietnamese opponent seemed to like the Bishop’s Opening type approach, as well as play aggressive early moves. I respect this, as it often leads to really fun and dynamic games, but it can be risky!

A historical note:
The Giraffe Attack is a relatively contemporary opening and is arguably a bit unsound. It’s a rare response (ninth most frequent) to the Anderssen Defense to the Vienna Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5), seen only 1% of the time from the position. However, it’s one of the most winning lines for White, and according to the Lichess community database, White wins 52% to Black 45%. I really enjoy playing the Giraffe Attack because it’s trappy, but also because of its silly name! The move was named by Eric Schiller; he wrote:

The queen should not move to this square [g4] unless it can safely capture at g7, and here she cannot. We might call this the Giraffe Attack, because White is sticking his neck out here.
— Eric Schiller (1998), Unorthodox Chess Openings, p. 458

Schiller then provides evidence of the problem of the Giraffe Attack with one of the earliest games in the databases from 1968, where Giorgi Tsikhelashvili (1948-) attempted to use it against future GM and 12^th World Chess Champion, Anatoly Karpov (1951-) in the Soviet Team Championship, and captured the g7-pawn with the queen after (3… Nf6) – a mistake! (Tsikhelashvili — Karpov, 1968, Riga, Latvia)

In this game, Black played one of the most common responses to the Giraffe Attack, which is (3… Qf6), threatening a Scholar’s Mate type attack with their queen and bishop on the f2 square. However, this is easily neutralised with (4. Nf3). Black now plays a common aggressive move that’s a mistake against the Giraffe – (4… Nh6). There is a direct and intuitive logic to chase the queen, but after (5. Qg3), Black has nothing there, and their knight is now standing awkwardly on the side of the board.

More than that, in the Giraffe Attack 3… Qf6 line, White is always poised to strike with the powerful Nd5, a very thematic tactic in the Vienna Game. Black, unfortunately, doesn’t recognise the threat and the need to defend the d5 square, and instead, plays a developing move (5… d6?). My knight strikes forward (6. Nd5!), threatening Black’s queen on f6, and Black suddenly realises that they are in trouble. Fundamentally, Black cannot defend both their c7- and g7-pawns with a single queen move. After thinking for almost one-and-a-half minutes, Black plays (6… Qe6??), a blunder as (7. Nxc7+), family fork! Emotional damage, GG!

Game 2: Pins and Fishing Hooks!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/114495033787

My opponent was understandably dissatisfied with the first game so requested a rematch, and I obliged! This time, they had the white pieces and like the first game, started with a Bishop’s Opening. From the first game, I had a sense that they liked playing aggressively, and that seems to be often the case for Bishop’s Opening players!

So, against this I almost always respond with (2… Nc6), which invites White to transpose back to an Italian (their most accurate move), which they did (3. Nf3), and I then played the solid Two Knights Defense (3… Nf6). White blitzed out these moves, so I suspect there were familiar with them, and immediately entered the Open Italian (4. d4), which transposes to the Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense (4… exd4).

Fortunately, I have some familiarity with this line (it’s the preferred line I play with Black against the Scotch Gambit), and as we didn’t reach the position via the Scotch Game, it’s not uncommon that White will be out of theory. And this was the case with their (5. Nxd4?!), an inaccuracy as (5. e5) is the most forcing move and best for White.

In this position, I usually play (5… Bc5). Stockfish rates this as inaccurate, preferring the more direct (5… Nxe4), capturing White’s e-pawn. However, my perspective is that I didn’t want to open the e-file while White has a potential massive attack of my king. Putting the king’s bishop on c5 puts pressure on White’s weak f2-pawn, and as we shall see, this ended up being the winning tactical resource in the game!

White opted to end their attack by trading away their forward knight (6. Nxc6 bxc6), develop further, and then castled kingside. And I saw my opportunity – (8… Ng4) – I decided to immediately launch an attack and delay castling! White played a slightly slow developing move afterwards, and so I revealed the full threat with (9… Qh4)! Now, I had an immediate checkmate threat with Qxh2 and three attackers on White’s f2-pawn! Moreover, note that after White castled, their f-pawn is now pinned to the king by my dark square c5-bishop!

Evaluation-wise, White is completely fine, but only if they find the only good move – (10. Bf4). This is why one must always take Stockfish evaluation metrics with caution. The evaluation is in the context that both players not only play accurately but have little difficulty in computing the evaluation-metric. From a human perspective, positions where there is only a single good move are difficult as any mistakes made will be more impactful.

White finds the intuitive and second-best move (10. h3?), but the forcing nature of my attack already makes this a mistake! This pawn move substantially weakens the dark squares around White’s king. Moreover, the pawn doesn’t threaten my g4-knight as I have (10… h5!!), a brilliant move, the fishing pole tactic! If White captures the knight with the pawn, then recapturing with hxg4 opens the h-file, revealing a rook-queen battery and an unstoppable mating attack!

White realises this and attempts to bring their dark square bishop into the defence around their king (11. Bf4?). I provoke it by pushing another pawn (11… g5!?) towards White’s king and forcing another bishop move. Under pressure, White blunders [-10]! They played (12. Bg3??), and it seems that they’ve trapped my queen! However, they forgot that their f2-pawn was pinned… (11… Qxg3), I capture the bishop and am threatening checkmate with Qh2, exploiting the weak dark squares. 🤩

In the position, White has only one way of avoiding immediate or near-term checkmate, which is to trade away their queen for my knight. That’s difficult to play, so they accept the fishing pole attack instead (13… hxg4??). I think that they thought that they might have a counterattack with (14. Bxf7+). I thought very carefully – White did have some checks that they could make. Interestingly, Stockfish thinks that checkmate is unavoidable regardless and can only be delayed [-M4] and that I should just capture their bishop with the king. After a minute, I decided to decline their offer with (14… Ke7) and then realised afterwards that (14… Kd8) would have even been better. However, it didn’t matter! White was undoubtedly hoping that I would capture the bishop and then blunder when they gave more checks. By declining, their last hope was dashed, and so resigned with emotional damage. Good game, GG!

I’m not sure there are any big takeaways from these games other than to always be on the lookout for tactics in the opening and early middlegame. Setting up tactical resources and following through with a plan will often result in a win, even if the engine thinks that certain moves are suboptimal.

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.07.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "lucpham2021"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C25"]
[WhiteElo "1245"]
[BlackElo "1237"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[EndTime "20:51:55 PDT"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[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/138408278.9b1d23f6.50x50o.1bb934246adc@2x.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "149"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:10][%timestamp 1]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:01.8][%timestamp 82]}
2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:19.2][%timestamp 8]} 2... Bc5 {[%clk 0:15:05.5][%timestamp
63]} 3. Qg4 {[%clk 0:15:27.4][%timestamp 18] Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense,
Giraffe Attack $1 One of my favourites $1} 3... Qf6 {[%clk 0:14:49.8][%timestamp
257]} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:36.4][%timestamp 10]} 4... Nh6 $2 {[%clk
0:14:36.5][%timestamp 233][%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g8e7;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false,c7c6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false,c6;keyPressed;shift;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false]
There is a certain intuitive logic here - chase the queen. However, it doesn't
work and it's a mistake [+2]} 5. Qg3 {[%clk 0:15:40.2][%timestamp 62]} 5... d6 $2
{[%clk 0:14:33.9][%timestamp 126][%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c7c6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;c6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c6;persistent;false] This is a mistake
[+4.4] as Black needs to prevent the powerful Nd5 $1} 6. Nd5 $1 {[%clk
0:15:45.9][%timestamp 43][%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] The queen's knight on
d5 is very powerful in the Vienna Game $1 This now attacks Black's queen, and
their c7 square.} 6... Qe6 $4 {[%clk 0:13:21.2][%timestamp 827][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,g6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false][%c_arrow
f6g6;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;g6;persistent;false] Unfortunately
for Black, they spent almost one-and-a-half minutes to blunder their queen...}
7. Nxc7+ {[%clk 0:15:52.8][%timestamp 31][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e8;square;e8;type;ResignBlack][%c_arrow
c7e8;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;e8;persistent;false,c7e6;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,c7a8;keyPressed;none;from;c7;opacity;0.8;to;a8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,a8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a8;persistent;false]
Family fork, emotional damage, GG $1} 1-0

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.07.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "lucpham2021"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1229"]
[BlackElo "1253"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[EndTime "20:58:52 PDT"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/138408278.9b1d23f6.100x100o.d3212a134f90@3x.jpeg"]
[WhiteCountry "149"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.100x100o.671ef4f371ed@3x.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:09.7][%timestamp 3]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:08.9][%timestamp 11]}
2. Bc4 {[%clk 0:15:17.5][%timestamp 22]} 2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:15:17.2][%timestamp
17]} 3. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:24][%timestamp 35]} 3... Nf6 {[%clk
0:15:25.9][%timestamp 13]} 4. d4 {[%clk 0:15:31.4][%timestamp 26] Bishop's
Opening, transposing into Italian Game: Two Knights, Open} 4... exd4 {[%clk
0:15:31.1][%timestamp 48] ... transposing into the Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit,
Dubois Réti Defense [0.00]} 5. Nxd4 $6 {[%clk 0:15:40.2][%timestamp 12][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;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] ... but it seems that
White wasn't familiar with the Scotch Gambit as e5 is the standard move in the
position. This move is an inaccuracy/mistake [-0.5].} 5... Bc5 $6 {[%clk
0:15:39.8][%timestamp 13][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f6e4;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false] Stockfish considers
Nxe4 is best and this was inaccurate [-0.5 $37 +0.2]. However, I wasn't sure that
I wanted a fully open e-file while White has good attacking chances, and decided
to put my dark square bishop on c5, with vision on White's weak f2 square.} 6.
Nxc6 {[%clk 0:15:43.6][%timestamp 66]} 6... bxc6 {[%clk 0:15:43.9][%timestamp
59]} 7. Nc3 {[%clk 0:15:38.1][%timestamp 155]} 7... d6 {[%clk
0:15:51.7][%timestamp 22]} 8. O-O {[%clk 0:15:46.6][%timestamp 15]} 8... Ng4
{[%clk 0:15:41.1][%timestamp 206] Immediately launch an attack $1} 9. Qe2 {[%clk
0:15:19.3][%timestamp 373]} 9... Qh4 {[%clk 0:15:26.3][%timestamp 248] Checkmate
threat $1 White is technically fine, but it's difficult to navigate.} 10. h3 $2
{[%clk 0:15:12][%timestamp 173][%c_effect
h3;square;h3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c1f4;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false] This is the natural
move, and the second best move, but it's already a mistake $1 [+0.3 $37 -1.1]} 10...
h5 $3 {[%clk 0:15:29.3][%timestamp 70][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;Brilliant;persistent;true][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false] Fishing pole tactic $1
White can't capture the knight as hxg4 opens the h-file and the queen-rook
battery threatens checkmate $1} 11. Bf4 $2 {[%clk 0:14:48.7][%timestamp
333][%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c1e3;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false] White seeks to defend
the h-file, but this is a mistake [-2.9]} 11... g5 $5 {[%clk
0:15:05.4][%timestamp 339][%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g4f2;keyPressed;none;from;g4;opacity;0.8;to;f2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false] Here, I thought I
could force potentially win tempo, and invite White to make a mistake by
increasing the pressure $1} (11... Nxf2 {Technically the most accurate move...}
12. Rxf2 Qxf4 {[%c_arrow
c5f2;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;f2;persistent;false,f2g1;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;g1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false] Black effectively
wins a pawn at the end of the exchange, and chess continues...}) 12. Bg3 $4
{[%clk 0:14:56.5][%timestamp 22][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g3;persistent;false] And White blunders $1
They blitzed out this move, probably thinking that they had trapped my queen $1
However, in their haste, they forgot that their f2-pawn is pinned to the king $1
This is a game ending blunder... [-10]} 12... Qxg3 {[%clk 0:15:09.8][%timestamp
56]} 13. hxg4 $4 {[%clk 0:14:55][%timestamp 115][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false][%c_arrow
e2g4;keyPressed;none;from;e2;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false] Pretty much,
the only way White can prevent short term checkmate is to trade their queen for
the knight. That's not an easy decision to make. Instead, White was flustered
and accepted the fishing pole tactic, and and there's now a forced checkmate
line [-M5].} 13... hxg4 {[%clk 0:15:18.4][%timestamp 14]} 14. Bxf7+ {[%clk
0:14:30.8][%timestamp 342] White attempts to make a desperate counterattack...}
14... Ke7 {[%clk 0:14:24.5][%timestamp 639][%c_effect
e7;square;e7;type;Winner,g1;square;g1;type;ResignWhite] But I don't accept $1
Emotional damage, good game, GG $1} 0-1