---

Today’s quick win is sent in by a long-time subscriber, @Gloin1994, who like me is a Vienna Game lover! This game demonstrates a winning tactic for White in a critical position in the opening. It’s worth noting as it’s a tactic that isn’t intuitively obvious at first glance.

The game starts with the Vienna Game, Black responds very solidly with the Max Lange Defense, and then develops their second knight, and we transpose into the Bishop’s Opening: Berlin, Vienna Hybrid Variation (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3).

Over time, I’ve played a lot of this variation as (3. Bc4) used to be my default response to the Max Lange Defence. However, it can potentially lead to one of the more closed and position lines of the Vienna, which I enjoy less. Recently, I’ve tended to respond to the Max Lange Defense with the less sound but exciting (3. f4) – the Max Lange version of the Vienna Gambit!

Check out my playlists:

This was a game of 5+5 blitz and both White and Black seemed to know the opening. The game progresses sensibly in the typical way to (4… Bc5 5. f4 d6 6. Nf3), and then Black makes an aggressive knight attack (6… Ng4), which at first glance seems to be a powerful and forcing move. Black has two attackers, the c5-bishop and the g4-knight on White’s weak f2-square!

However, this attack is inaccurate, though it might not seem obvious why… 🤔

A conceptual digression:
Chess seems to be a balanced game. Both players have the same pieces, which are placed in mirror-imaged positions. All respective pieces can move the same way and are governed by the same rules. From what we know of chess played by an engine at extremely high level, it can be postulated that theoretically perfect chess is a draw, or at least, close enough to one for the “truth” that can be attained by human performance.

However, there is of course one principal asymmetry between White and Black; White moves first! This means that White has the potential advantage in development. This is most clearly demonstrated in that Black cannot play using a copycat strategy for more than a few moves without the move being a blunder. However, Black also has the potential advantage of playing the first response! In practice, this means that Black can often direct the game down a direction of their choosing. For instance, although White might want a (1. e4 e5) game, Black can essentially force the game down a variety of alternate lines, e.g., the Sicilian, Caro-Kann, and French defenses. From the perspective of accuracy, White’s options are more constrained as the second responder, and the game will often still largely be in the structure/opening set by Black. More forcing lines by White on the second or third moves in the opening are of course possible, but these generally involve risk as they are technically less accurate.

In this game after (6… Ng4?!) White gets to demonstrate their first mover advantage! With their f-pawn already advanced to f4, it is no longer sitting on f2 as a target. Moreover, the reciprocal knight attack with (7. Ng5) is stronger than Black’s as the knight is defended! Both knights are mutually under pressure by the opposite queen (White’s g5-knight by Black’s d8-queen, and Black’s g4-knight by White’s d1-queen), but Black’s knight is hanging. And this makes all the difference!

In this position, counterattack with a knight attack of your own!

In this game, Black blunders by seeking to defend their f7-pawn – a reasonable step with (7… Be6??). This fails as after captures captures (8. Bxe6! fxe6), White wins the hanging knight (9. Qxg4) and Black resigns. GG! However, even if you analyse the best responses by Black, (7… h6; or 7… Rf8; or 7… Bf2+), each result in either material loss for Black, or White gaining a powerful attack against Black’s king, or both!

Game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/116422186105

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.08.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gloin1994"]
[Black "SER_H"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C28"]
[WhiteElo "347"]
[BlackElo "413"]
[TimeControl "300+5"]
[EndTime "4:08:35 PDT"]
[Termination "Gloin1994 won by resignation"]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/72330714.7cf16c7d.100x100o.526994933ed8@3x.png"]
[BlackCountry "163"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/194767841.096aab58.100x100o.93a72fe9f982@3x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "112"]
[WhiteTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:05:05][%timestamp 1]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:05:03.9][%timestamp 11]}
2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:05:08.6][%timestamp 14]} 2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:05:07.2][%timestamp
17] Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 0:05:12][%timestamp 16]} 3...
Nf6 {[%clk 0:05:04.2][%timestamp 80]} 4. d3 {[%clk 0:05:15.9][%timestamp 11]
Transpose to: Bishop's Opening, Berlin, Vienna Hybrid Variation} 4... Bc5 {[%clk
0:05:02.5][%timestamp 67]} 5. f4 {[%clk 0:05:19.1][%timestamp 18]} 5... d6
{[%clk 0:04:59.7][%timestamp 78]} 6. Nf3 {[%clk 0:05:17.9][%timestamp 62]} 6...
Ng4 $6 {[%clk 0:04:57.4][%timestamp 73][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c8g4;keyPressed;none;from;c8;opacity;0.8;to;g4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false] Aggressive knight
attack, together with Black's c5-bishop placing pressure on the f2 square $1 This
isn't the most accurate move by Black, and it isn't the most common (12\% from
the position), but potentially wins the advantage if White doesn't find the
correct response $1} 7. Ng5 {[%clk 0:04:47.1][%timestamp 358] White counterattacks
with their own knight attack and is just one step of tempo too quick $1 The
difference is that White's f-pawn isn't on f2 so there is no material to lose $1
This makes all the difference $1} 7... Be6 $4 {[%clk 0:04:47.6][%timestamp
148][%c_effect e6;square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] Superficially, this
seems to make sense, defending the f7-pawn and blocking the light-square
diagonal from White's c4-bishop... However, it's a blunder at roughly [+5] $1} 8.
Bxe6 $1 {[%clk 0:04:04.7][%timestamp 474][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e6;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false] ... this is as Black
has lost sight of continuity $1 Trading bishops removes the defender of Black's
g4-knight $1} 8... fxe6 {[%clk 0:04:48][%timestamp 46]} 9. Qxg4 {[%clk
0:03:21.8][%timestamp 479][%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner,e8;square;e8;type;ResignBlack] Good game, GG $1} 1-0