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chess noob Quick Wins! is a series of short videos, to demonstrate very quick wins! As a beginner, you become aware of the Scholar’s Mate and the Fool’s Mate, but neither of these show up in real games. However, there are tricky quick checkmates and wins that occur, even at the intermediate level of chess.

Today’s game is a classic quick win line played by fellow Team Australia club member @stoker68. The Blackburne-Shilling Gambit is a shining example of the Romantic style of chess, and I am pleased to have it showcased!

It starts with an unexpected knight advance by Black on move 3, in response to White’s Italian Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4). Black appears to have gone mad, giving up the defence of their e-pawn on e5. For White, there is a pressing issue as the knights now look at each other. Consider what the options look like for White:

1. Nxe5 – win the hanging pawn, and have a double attack on Black’s f-pawn
2. Nxd4 – capture Black’s knight with the knight, but expect it to be recaptured by exd4
3. Ignore the gambit and Black’s aggressive knight by developing normally (Nc3) or castling (O-O)

For most, it looks like option 1 is the best! And this intuition is what makes the Blackburne Shilling Gambit so devious! Stockfish identifies this as a mistake, with the evaluation reversing from [+1.2 to 0.5]!

Black has the unexpected and excellent counterattack with queen (4. Nxe5 Qg5), which forks White’s offside knight and their g-pawn on g2. With White’s knight pressed again, (5. Nxe7) which comes with a fork of Black’s queen and rook seems irresistible. However, this is a blunder at [-6.4]!

The black queen now captures the g-pawn (5… Qxg2) and sudden White realises that things have gone completely pear-shaped as the queen now also attacks White’s rook, which would come with check, and frighteningly, it looks almost like mate! White responds in a very natural way by snuggling their rook to the king (6. Rf1), taking it out of danger. However, the engine thinks that the best move was to let the rook die!

Black’s queen was not only attacking White’s rook on h1, but there was a fork with also an attack on the e-pawn on e4 – (6. Qxe4+)! With Black’s knight also covering the critical square e2, blocking the check with the queen would result in its loss so the natural move is to block with bishop (7. Be2). But once again, the intuitive move is deceiving! The bishop is pinned to the king, that finally snuggle of White’s pieces has the king smothered.

Black’s queen’s knight, which ignored convention on move 3 to leap forward and paved the way for their mistress’ attack, now delivers the coup de grâce; (7… Nf3#) smothered checkmate. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/600430845

[Event "Cricket Premier league Season 57"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2023.12.26"]

[Round "-"]

[White "sirrah1"]

[Black "stoker68"]

[Result "0-1"]

[Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/cricket-premier-league-season-57"]

[Timezone "UTC"]

[ECO "C50"]

[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Italian-Game-Blackburne-Shilling-Gambit...6.Rf1-Qxe4-7.Be2-Nf3"]

[UTCDate "2023.12.26"]

[UTCTime "13:58:01"]

[WhiteElo "1412"]

[BlackElo "1491"]

[TimeControl "1/259200"]

[Termination "stoker68 won by checkmate"]

[StartTime "13:58:01"]

[EndDate "2024.01.07"]

[EndTime "10:33:04"]

[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/600430845"]

[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]

[WhiteCountry "164"]

[WhiteTitle ""]

[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/1382408.23981d6c.50x50o.d54737f64167.jpeg"]

[BlackCountry "17"]

[BlackTitle ""]



1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4 $5 {[%c_effect

d4;square;d4;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Italian Game: Blackburne Shilling

Gambit [+1.2]. This is an extremely tricky gambit $1} 4. Nxe5 $2 {[%c_arrow

f3d4;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight

d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false][%c_effect

e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Surprisingly, this intuitive move to

accept the gambit is a mistake $1 [-0.5]} 4... Qg5 $1 {[%c_effect

g5;square;g5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] The queen forks White's knight on

e5 and the g-pawn on g2. This naturally leads White to move their knight again,

probably to capture Black's seemingly hanging f-pawn, which then chains a

seeming fork on White's rook and queen...} 5. Nxf7 $4 {[%c_effect

f7;square;f7;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow

c4f7;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight

f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false] But this is a severe

blunder $1 [-6.4]} 5... Qxg2 {The queen now forks White's rook and pawn on e4.

Surprisingly, defending the rook is a mistake $1} 6. Rf1 $6 {[%c_effect

f1;square;f1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow

f7g5;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight

g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] This is actually a

mistake and it s better for White to allow it's rook to die [-8]} 6... Qxe4+ 7.

Be2 $4 {[%c_highlight

e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false][%c_arrow

d1e2;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_effect

e2;square;e2;type;Blunder;persistent;true] The theme from this entire line is

that the most natural response by White is surprisingly terrible $1 This hangs

mate $1} 7... Nf3# {[%c_effect

e8;square;e8;type;Winner,e1;square;e1;type;CheckmateWhite][%c_highlight

e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false][%c_arrow

f3e1;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false] Smothered

checkmate on move 7 $2 Yes please $1 GG $1} 0-1