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CHESS UNPLUGGED | Sometimes, I just like unwind by not thinking too hard, play a couple of quick casual unrated games, while listen to some slow jazz! 😌♟️🎵

Today, I played a couple of quick games before heading off the work. As noted in my video on the Greek Gift Sacrifice yesterday, I’ve been really busy working on my book, Become a Chess Assassin! for the past month and haven’t been playing a lot of chess. At the moment, I’m waiting for a print sample to arrive, and once I’ve checked that over, it will be launched! The current plan for release is mid-November 2024 so keep an eye out for it!

This morning, I had a neat little game of the Vienna Gambit, Declined 3… d6. Unfortunately for my opponent, they decided to go super aggro with their king’s knight, leaping it into my territory for the attack, and in doing so, hanging it. Although making an early attack is a Romantic thing to do (I approve!) to be a Chess Assassin you can’t immediately just trip over your own feet! Opening principles are opening principles for a reason.

In the second game, I had the black pieces and my opponent played the off-beat Bird’s Opening, and get a pretty good advantage over me in the opening and early middlegame. One of the advantages with playing uncommon openings at the beginner-intermediate level is that the objective inferiority according to the engine rarely matters, but you take your opponent out of their experience and thus, gain an advantage in knowledge and psychology.

The game ended up being fairly closed, but I also noted that my opponent seemed a bit hesitant in their play in the opening. I noted that it was probably advantageous for them to have opened the centre, but they avoided doing this. And as such, I avoided it as well strategically, as the closed game allowed me to launch an attack.

Eventually, I found an attack by infiltrating with my knight, attacking White’s kingside position. The “prodding” then provoked White to make a mistake/blunder as we started to approach a time scramble, and that allowed me to infiltrate with my queen. The tactical idea was that it was easy for me to play the next move (saving time), while my opponent needed to calculate carefully (losing time). Eventually, I won with them flagging; not the most satisfying win, but a moral one nonetheless as the game had turned around. I was reasonably sure that I was probably going to win if the game had continued.

Anyway, keep an eye out for the launch of my book! If you like to learn more about Romantic chess, this will make a great book for yourself, and potentially a fantastic present for your chess friends for Christmas!

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/4sh4fRFBBU
Game 2: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/3eXno1x1sC

[Event "Noob vs Noob #7"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.11.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Random Noob"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "10 min"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/4MD4tKcd42?tab=analysis"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 {Vienna Gambit $1 Let's go $1} 3... d6 {[%c_arrow
d7d5;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false] Declined with d6.
This is the \"best\" of the Vienna Gambit declines, but it is still a relative
mistake.} 4. Nf3 h6 $6 {[%c_effect
h6;square;h6;type;Inaccuracy;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true]}
5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Ng4 $2 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true]}
7. Nf3 $2 {[%c_arrow
d1f3;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%2525;animated;false;persistent;true]
A relatively conservative move. White is still much better, but there was an
opportunity for Qf3 as a developing move. The logic of Nf3 is to prevent Qh4+.}
7... Ne3 $4 {[%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Blunder;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
c1e3;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false] Black's
single-minded lone infiltration is a blunder... To attack is Romantic, but
you're not a \"Chess Assassin\" if you trip over your own feet $1 Chess opening
principles are important $1} 8. Bxe3 Bg4 9. Bc4 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 {[%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Winner] Here, black opted to resign after calculating for some
minutes. Notice that White is full developed and ready to castle to both the
king- and queensides. Black has no development.} 1-0

[Event "Noob vs Noob #7"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2024.11.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Random Noob"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "10 min"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/5iRiYm7VCz?tab=analysis"]

1. f4 {Bird's Opening} 1... f5 {Double bird  $1} 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. a3 Nc6 4. b4 d5 $6
{[%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;Inaccuracy;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g7g6;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false]} 5. Bb2 d4 $2
{[%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] Clearly, I don't know
how to play the Bird  $1} 6. d3 $2  {[%c_arrow
b4b5;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%2525;animated;false;persistent;true]}
6... Ng4 $2 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;path;null;size;100%25;animated;false;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false]} 7. h4  {[%c_arrow
b4b5;keyPressed;none;from;b4;opacity;0.8;to;b5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false]} 7... Ne3 $6
{[%c_effect e3;square;e3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7e5;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] Striking for the
centre was best} 8. Qc1 Nxf1 $2 {[%c_effect
f1;square;f1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e7e5;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false]} 9. Rxf1 e6 $6
{[%c_effect e6;square;e6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;from;a7;opacity;0.8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false]} 10. b5 Na5 $6
{[%c_effect a5;square;a5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6e7;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]} 11. Bxd4 c5 12. Bc3
b6 13. a4 Nb7 14. d4 $2 {[%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c1b2;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;b2;persistent;false,b1d2;keyPressed;none;from;b1;opacity;0.8;to;d2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b2;persistent;false,d2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d2;persistent;false]}
14... g6 $4 {[%c_effect g6;square;g6;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g6;persistent;false,d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_arrow
c5d4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false] Curiously, the
engine thinks that cxd4 is not only good for Black, but the best. I wasn't so
sure that the resulting opening of the centre wouldn't be better for White and
had decided to keep the centre closed. This ended up being the correct strategic
choice in the end as in the closed game, I out played my opponent who was ahead
for almost the entire game. Stockfish calls g6 a blunder, but I was prepared to
lose some material on the queenside to get an attack on the kingside.} 15. e3 $2 
{[%c_effect e3;square;e3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d4c5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false] I predicted that
White would be too hesitant to open the centre as well, even though I thought
that it would be good for them $1} 15... Bg7 16. Rh1 Nd6 $6 {[%c_effect
d6;square;d6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c5d4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] As before, I decided
in the game to keep the centre closed, as this restrained White's dark square
bishop, and their queenside pieces from developing $1 I decided to get my knight
back into the action after his disgrace being chased by pawns onto the a-file $1}
17. h5 $2 {[%c_effect h5;square;h5;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} 17... Ne4 18.
Bb2 $6 {[%c_effect b2;square;b2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c1a3;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;a3;persistent;false,h5h6;keyPressed;none;from;h5;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a3;persistent;false,h6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h6;persistent;false]}
18... Bb7 $2 {[%c_effect b7;square;b7;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c5d4;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] Stockfish sees it as
a mistake, but I'm banking away a \"tactical resource\" for a future attack $1}
19. c3 $2 {[%c_effect c3;square;c3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d4c5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false]} 19... Ng3 $5 
{[%c_arrow
g6g5;keyPressed;none;from;g6;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,g3h1;keyPressed;none;from;g3;opacity;0.8;to;h1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false,h1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h1;persistent;false][%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Interesting;persistent;true] A prod to provoke White to
respond and make a blunder $1} 20. Rh4 $4 {[%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false,h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
h1h3;keyPressed;none;from;h1;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false] Yes $1} 20...
Nxh5 $5  {[%c_arrow
b7f3;keyPressed;none;from;b7;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,d8h4;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false,h4e1;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;Interesting;persistent;true] The forward knight advance
created the opportunity for an attack $1 The fianchetto light square bishop is now
part of the attack $1} 21. Rh3 Bxf3 $5 {[%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e8g8;keyPressed;none;from;e8;opacity;0.8;to;g8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g8;persistent;false] Perhaps not the most
accurate, but it isn't really a mistake and it forces White to think and plan.
In the time scramble, it allows me to play quickly while White had to think
things through $1} 22. Rxf3 Qh4+ {[%c_effect e8;square;e8;type;Winner][%c_arrow
h4e1;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false] Final move, check
with queen down the dark square diagonal, which was originally weakened by
White's first move with the Bird's Opening $1 White is technically not too bad
according to the evaluation [-1.2], but White will be able to chase White's king
with the queen on White's back rank. White flagged, good game, GG $1} 0-1