---

🔥 Coupon code: CHESSNOOB64

• Get up to 10-17% discount at the Chessnut store (can be used in conjunction with other coupons, though the total saving is capped)
• Get a 20% discount on the Chessiverse premium membership!

Last week, I attended GP25, the annual conference of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and this year, it was held in Brisbane, Australia. The conference started with a keynote from the Australian Health Minister, the Hon. Mark Butler MP, followed by a respectful, if somewhat tense fireside chat between RACGP President Dr Michael Wright, and the Minister!

I usually take an opportunity at professional conferences to try to tee up an interview for my Blitz Chess Chats series, and over the weekend, spoke with Dr Pallavi Prathivadi – keep an eye out for the interview! 🤩

I often also play a few games while away on travel, and for this, the ultraportable Chessnut Go electronic chess board is just brilliant! After dinner at the hotel restaurant (Zuma Bar & Grill) one evening, I used the Chessnut Go to play the next undefeated bot on Chessiverse, connected through Chessconnect!

Before I talk about the game, I have some very exciting news: my AI-bot on Chessiverse has been unleashed, and it’s been released as a free-to-play bot!

As you can see, the bot will play some of my favourite openings, the Vienna Gambit, the Smith-Morra, and the Englund Gambit against 1. d4! Embarrassingly, I’ve lost to my bot more times than I have won so far in my limited play testing! 🤣 I’m planning on making some fun content playing against my bot in the coming weeks!

But anyway, in this game after dinner, my virtual Greek opponent Theo, had the white pieces and led with the Vienna Game! Ooh… nice! I responded symmetrically with the Max Lange Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6), and Theo developed the very normal bishop (3. Bc4). The mistake for Black would be to play the “Copycat Variation” with (3… Bc5) as White potentially gets one of the most devastating attacks out of the Vienna, the Meitner-Mieses Gambit. I don’t see this very often nowadays as I usually play the Vienna Gambit in the Max Lange (3. f4) rather than (3. Bc4) but check out my playlist on my channel!

In the game, I responded with the two knights (3… Nf6), which is a very solid, though perhaps not especially adventurous response. The logic? Black is moving White towards a Berlin-Vienna Hybrid, which is generally good for Black, or White’s most rigorous response is to abandon the Vienna and instead, transpose into the Four Knights Italian, which is what my bot-friend Theo opted to do (4. Nf3).

Those of you who follow my channel will know the book moves here! It’s technically equal, but beginners will usually make a mistake against the aggressive (4… Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5!), ending in a fork of White’s knight and bishop in the centre of the board!

I was pleased to see the bot play the sensible-looking, and very human move at beginner levels (6. Bb5??), which is a blunder! It looks like White gains a good attack after (6… dxe4 7. Nxe5), but the move to know against White’s pressure is the unexpected (7… Qg5!). Black now exerts pressure on White’s knight and bishop on the fifth rank, and their undefended g7-pawn!

This position is pretty much completely winning for Black! I don’t play the rest of the game accurately and blundered against White’s attack. However, partly from luck, and the bot collapsing under pressure on their queen (whew…! Though I must admit, perhaps this wasn’t the most realistic blunder by the bot from a human perspective), I recaptured the advantage, and slowly ground Theo into resigning! Good game, GG!

* * *

Learn how to play the best chess opening attacks in the Romantic style with my new book, “Become a Chess Assassin!” available now on your local Amazon store!

[Event "Chessiverse Rated Game"]
[Site "Chessiverse.com"]
[Date "2025.11.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Theo Tempo"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Time "09:50:13"]
[WhiteElo "1037"]
[BlackElo "1303"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[Termination "Resign"]
[BlackUrl ""]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]
[WhiteUrl ""]
[WhiteCountry "56"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2Kty7v2s2N/analysis"]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:10:00]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:09:59]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:10:04]} 2... Nc6
{[%clk 0:10:00] Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense} 3. Bc4 {[%clk 0:10:08]} 3... Nf6
{[%clk 0:09:59]} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:10:11] transpose: Four Knights Italian} 4...
Nxe4 {[%clk 0:09:59]} 5. Nxe4 {[%clk 0:10:15]} 5... d5 {[%clk 0:10:01][%c_arrow
d7d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d7;to;d5;persistent;false,d5c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d5;to;c4;persistent;false,d5e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d5;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c4;persistent;false,e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false,d5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false]}
6. Bb5 $4 {[%clk 0:10:16][%c_effect
b5;square;b5;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false,d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
c4d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;c4;to;d3;persistent;false]} 6... dxe4
{[%clk 0:10:02]} 7. Nxe5 {[%clk 0:10:16]} 7... Qg5 $1 {[%clk 0:10:00][%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false,g2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g2;persistent;false,b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b5;persistent;false,e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g5g2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g5;to;g2;persistent;false,g5b5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g5;to;b5;persistent;false]
Move to know in the position $1} 8. d4 {[%clk 0:09:51]} 8... Qxg2 {[%clk 0:09:35]}
9. Rf1 {[%clk 0:09:50]} 9... Bd6 {[%clk 0:09:06]} 10. Nxc6 {[%clk 0:09:15]}
10... bxc6 $6  {[%clk 0:09:01][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a7a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;a7;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] I thought that losing
the rook was okay with the attack. However, although I'm still ahead, the
sacrifice is unnecessary and a6 is better} 11. Bxc6+ {[%clk 0:09:17]} 11... Kf8
{[%clk 0:09:02]} 12. Bxa8 $6 {[%clk 0:09:10][%c_effect
a8;square;a8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 12... Bg4 $2  {[%clk
0:09:01][%c_effect g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c8a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;c8;to;a6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a6;persistent;false] This attack on
White's queen doesn't really work. The move I didn't see was Ba6 with wins
White's rook and then force trades the queens $1} 13. Qd2 {[%clk 0:09:13]} 13...
Bh3 $6 {[%clk 0:08:51][%c_effect
h3;square;h3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g2f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g2;to;f3;persistent;false]} 14. Qe2 $1
{[%clk 0:09:05][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false]} 14... Bg4 $5 {[%clk
0:07:51][%c_effect g4;square;g4;type;Interesting;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f7f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f7;to;f5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false] I knew that I'd made
a mistake at some point so decided to try a tricky aggressive move with Bg4 $5...
and it worked $1} 15. Qxg4 $4 {[%clk 0:09:01][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
g4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g4;persistent;false,e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false][%c_arrow
e2e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;e2;to;e4;persistent;false,a8e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;a8;to;e4;persistent;false]
The human-ised bot cracks under the pressure on their queen, and trades it off
for the bishop $1} 15... Qxg4 {[%clk 0:07:50]} 16. Bd2 {[%clk 0:09:03]} 16... Bxh2
{[%clk 0:07:43]} 17. Rd1 $6 {[%clk 0:08:49][%c_effect
d1;square;d1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 17... g6 {[%clk 0:07:37]} 18.
Bh6+ {[%clk 0:08:53]} 18... Ke7 {[%clk 0:07:27]} 19. Bc6 {[%clk 0:08:46]} 19...
Bf4 {[%clk 0:07:10]} 20. Bxf4 {[%clk 0:08:39]} 20... Qxf4 {[%clk 0:07:10]} 21.
Ke2 {[%clk 0:08:40]} 21... Kd6 {[%clk 0:07:03]} 22. d5 {[%clk 0:08:43]} 22...
Rb8 {[%clk 0:07:01]} 23. b3 {[%clk 0:08:43]} 23... Qg4+ {[%clk 0:06:37]} 24. Ke3
{[%clk 0:08:43]} 24... Qf3+ {[%clk 0:06:36]} 25. Kd4 {[%clk 0:08:19]} 25... Rb4+
{[%clk 0:06:36]} 26. c4 {[%clk 0:08:22] White's piece advantage (rook pair +
bishop vs queen and rook) makes it a little difficult to convert the theoretical
advantage. There's a fair degree of inaccurate moves before I finally gain a
definitive advantage $1} 26... Qf6+ $6 {[%clk 0:06:29][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h7h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;h7;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false]} 27. Ke3 $6 {[%clk
0:08:25][%c_effect e3;square;e3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d4e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d4;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false]} 27... Qe5 {[%clk
0:06:19]} 28. Rd4 $6 {[%clk 0:08:25][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f2f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f2;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false]} 28... f5 {[%clk
0:06:08]} 29. Rd2 $6 {[%clk 0:08:28][%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c4c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;c4;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false]} 29... f4+ {[%clk
0:06:05]} 30. Ke2 {[%clk 0:08:31]} 30... Qc3 {[%clk 0:05:59]} 31. Kd1 $6 {[%clk
0:08:25][%c_effect d1;square;d1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f1d1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f1;to;d1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d1;persistent;false]} 31... e3 $6 {[%clk
0:05:47][%c_arrow
c3a1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;c3;to;a1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a1;persistent;false][%c_effect
e3;square;e3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 32. fxe3 {[%clk 0:08:26]} 32...
fxe3 {[%clk 0:05:47]} 33. Rc2 $2 {[%clk 0:08:10][%c_effect
c2;square;c2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d2f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d2;to;f2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f2;persistent;false]} 33... Qe5 $9 {[%clk
0:04:59]} 34. Rf8 $6 {[%clk 0:08:06][%c_effect
f8;square;f8;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d1;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false]} 34... Qh5+ $2 {[%clk
0:04:54][%c_effect h5;square;h5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e5a1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;e5;to;a1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a1;persistent;false]} 35. Ke1 $2 {[%clk
0:08:09][%c_effect e1;square;e1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d1;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false]} 35... Qh1+ {[%clk
0:04:37]} 36. Rf1 {[%clk 0:07:51]} 36... Qh4+ $6 {[%clk 0:04:33][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h1e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;h1;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false]} 37. Ke2 {[%clk
0:07:52]} 37... Qh2+ $6 {[%clk 0:04:31][%c_effect
h2;square;h2;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 38. Kf3 $4 {[%clk
0:07:47][%c_arrow
e2d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;e2;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} 38... Qxc2 {[%clk 0:04:30]} 39.
Bb5 $6 {[%clk 0:07:47][%c_effect b5;square;b5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]}
39... Qxa2 {[%clk 0:04:12]} 40. c5+ {[%clk 0:07:33]} 40... Kxc5 {[%clk
0:04:07][%c_effect c5;square;c5;type;Winner;animated;true] Good game, GG $1} 0-1