One thing that I love about chess is that things can go wrong so quickly. Very quickly. In some cases, a player can lose in as soon as four moves. With cooperation from both sides, even two is possible. But under around twenty is usually considered unusually quickly. Here is an opening trappy variation in which, if Black goes wrong, he can lose in as soon as ten moves. And not even by material loss. By checkmate! In this blog, I examine several games with this motif, the correct responses, and what Red Hot Pawn has done when facing this deceptively tricky, sometimes called drawish, opening.
Movses Movsisyan–Thomas Patton Tulsa Open 2004
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 {This is a little bit of a slack move. Usually, in e4-e5 openings, fianchettoing takes too much time to be worth it.} 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 {This is the best square to go to.} Bg7 {Black protects the d-pawn, and develops naturally, as there is no reason to move the other way: that creates unnecessary weakness in the kingside.} 6. Bg5 Nge7 {This, as natural as it looks, is a blunder. It hangs the d4-pawn and ties up Black’s pieces.} 7. Nxd4 Bxd4 {f6 was the best move, as bad as it looks, as it doesn’t lose a piece.} 8. Qxd4 Nxd4 {Lastly, this lets White mate Black in a nice way.} 9. Nf6+ Kf8 10. Bh6# {1-0}
The problems with Black’s play were 6…Nge7 and 7…Nxd4. 7…Nxd4 blundered a piece, but Black is absolutely lost. Why? 6…Nge7 is simply playing into White’s hands, rendering the e7 knight unable to move (pinned) and the c6 knight also paralyzed (must protect e7). With so many pieces tied down, when Black is inevitably forced to move one of them, he is attacked on the weakened (3…g6) dark squares. Would you like to see it again? Here it is a century earlier. There are a couple slight transpositions, but we get exactly the same final position.
Benjamin Markovich Blumenfeld Moscow 1903
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nge7 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.Nd5 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.Nf6+ Kf8 10.Bh6# {1-0}
Here is a slightly different, perhaps more logical variation, in which White takes back the pawn immediately instead of trying to capitalize directly on the dark squares.
Grigor Minchev–Dimitar Miraschiev 1986
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 {So far, we’ve started off the same way…} 5. Nxd4 {However, White plays what may be an even better move, just taking back the pawn.} Bg7 6. Be3 {Holding the knight instead of trading or moving away.} d6 7. Nd5 Nge7 {White hits upon the problem right away: the f6-square.} 8. Bg5 {White is willing to move again to improve his position. Bravo for the bravery!} Bxd4 {This blunders a piece, though…} 9. Qxd4 Nxd4 {And this, once again, blunders mate.} 10. Nf6+ Kf8 11. Bh6# {1-0}
This idea can even show up in other openings, such as the sometimes-dull (although, really, all openings are sometimes dull) English.
Muller–NN 1928
1.Nf3 Nc6 2.c4 e5 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 {We transpose into a type of d4-opening.} exd4 5.Nd5 Bg7 6.Bg5 Nge7 {And the same mistakes as before set in.} 7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.Nf6+ Kf8 10.Bh6# {1-0}
So what is Black meant to do? Here is, if not a refutation, a way to keep the game equal for Black from 1883 (!) , before any of the games mentioned previously.
Samuel Rosenthal–Wilhelm Steinitz London 1883
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 Bg7 6. Bg5 {Here is where Black stops the White attack in its tracks, unlike before.} Nce7 7. e5 {White tries to occupy the f6-square.} h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxe7 Qxe7 10. Bg3 Qb4+ {f5 was a little better, disrupting the White bishop, weakening the e5-pawn, and making a later Qb4+ stronger.} 11. Nd2 h5 12. h3 f5 {This move is a little less strong now because now the e5-pawn can take and the g3-bishop already has a nice, ready-made hidey-hole on h2.} 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Bd3 Kd8 {Qe7+ was best, getting a heavy on the e-file more quickly. White wouldn’t have, really, a good interposition then.} 15. O-O d6 16. h4 g4 {If Black had taken, White would have taken back, pinning the knight.} 17. a3 Qa4 18. Re1 Bd7 19. Nc4 {White moves out the troops, taking away a few squares from the Black queen.} Qc6 20. Qe2 Re8 {Qe7+ would have meant death, so this is a good response.} 21. Qd2 {White tries to head to g5, attacking the two pieces on f6 and g7.} Qd5 22. Rxe8+ Kxe8 23. Qg5 Kf8 24. Nd2 {White heads to e4.} Bc6 25. f3 {It is now necessary to fortify e4 before touching down.} Qxg5 26. hxg5 Nd5 {And the rest of the game isn’t really relevant, but I’ll leave it here, un-noted, in case you’re interested.} 27. f4 Re8 28. f5 Be5 29. Kf2 Bxg3+ 30. Kxg3 Re3+ 31. Kh4 Nf4 32. Nf1 Re5 33. Ng3 Be8 34. Be4 d5 35. Rf1 dxe4 36. Rxf4 e3 37. g6 e2 38. Nxe2 Rxe2 39. Kg5 h4 40. Rxg4 Rxc2 41. Rxh4 Rxg2+ 42. Kf6 Kg8 43. Rxd4 Rxb2 44. Rd8 Re2 45. Rc8 c5 46. Rxc5 Bc6 47. Rc3 Rd2 48. Rh3 a5 49. Ke7 Be4 50. f6 Bxg6 51. f7+ Bxf7 52. Rg3+ Kh7 53. Kxf7 Rf2+ 54. Ke6 Rb2 55. Rg4 Kh6 56. Kd5 Kh5 57. Rg1 Kh4 58. Kc5 Rb3 59. a4 Rb4 60. Rg8 Kh5 61. Rg7 b6+ 62. Kc6 Rxa4 63. Kxb6 {½-½}
Here are some alternative ways from Red Hot Pawn (Some better than others.)
kcc–hubris RHP 2005
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 Bg7f6 {This, as is usual for most opening solutions on RHP, drops a piece.} 7. Qd1d2 {And, as usual, the other player misses it. Correct was 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6 8. e5, pinning the knight.} h6 {Black kicks back the bishop.} 8. Bg5f4 d6 9. O-O-O {White castles, perhaps opening himself up to attack on the long diagonal, but getting his king out of the center.} a6 10. Bf1c4 {White, believing he will regain the d4-pawn, continues to play normally instead of shifting his plans to get it back.} Bc8e6 11. Qd2d3 {This isn’t a move I like. It puts the queen in striking range of the knight via be and e5, and wastes a move. Better is 11. Rhe1, getting all the pieces out and discouraging Black from taking the knight.} Be6xd5 12. Bc4xd5 Nc6b4 {This, however, is premature.} 13. Qd3b3 {The wrong way to do it! Bxf7+, and then Qb3+, wins the knight.} Nb4xd5 14. exd5 g5 15. Rh1e1 Ng8e7 16. Bf4g3 O-O 17. Qb3xb7 {White snaffs up a pawn, but opens himself up to attack on the b-file.} Ne7f5 18. h3 Nf5xg3 19. fxg3 Qd8d7 20. Qb7b4 Ra8b8 {b2 now comes under fire. d3 is becoming an option, giving up the sickly d4-pawn to center the bishop in the attack.} 21. Qb4a3 Qd7b5 22. Nf3xd4 Qb5xd5 23. c3 {This blunders g2. Instead, simply protect it!} Rb8b6 24. Kc1b1 {This is a bad move, especially when Ne6 won the exchange, evening out the game.} Qd5xg2 25. Nd4f5 Qg2xh3 26. Nf5e7 Bf6xe7 27. Re1xe7 {White has some activity, but Black is getting all his pieces focused on the White king.} Qh3f5 28. Kb1c1 c5 {Just Rf8-b8, doubling up on the file quickly.} 29. Qa3a5 Rb6c6 {Black misses a hidden, brilliant mating shot with Rxb2!! Kxb2 Rb8+.} 30. Re7c7 Rc6xc7 31. Qa5xc7 Qf5e6 32. Rd1xd6 Qe6e3 33. Rd6d2 {Why pin the rook? Just 33. Kc2.} Kg8g7 34. a3 Qe3e1 35. Kc1c2 Qe1e4 36. Kc2b3 Qe4e6 37. Kb3c2 Rf8c8 {c4 blocked off squares from the king, threatening further attack with Qe4+.} 38. Qc7a5 Qe6e4 39. Kc2b3 Rc8b8 40. Kb3a2 Qe4c4 41. Ka2a1 Rb8e8 42. b3 {White cracks under the stress, weakening his own king voluntarily.} Qc4xb3 43. Qa5xc5 Re8e1 {0-1. Checkmate.}
Alopinto–joost RHP 2004
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 Ng8e7 {White gets the desired move, unlike other Red Hot Pawn games.} 7. Nf3xd4 f6 8. Nd5xf6 Bg7xf6 9. Bg5xf6 Rh8f8 10. Nd4xc6 bxc6 11. Bf6g5 {White retreats, keeping a grip on d5.} d5 12. exd5 Qd8xd5 13. Bg5xe7 Qd5xd1 {Best was leaving the queen, hoping White will trade and undouble the Black pawns.} 14. Ra1xd1 Ke8xe7 {White has the advantage based on his better pawn structure and development advantage.} 15. Bf1c4 Ra8b8 16. b3 Bc8g4 {Black tempts the White pawns onto bishop-blocking White squares.} 17. f3 {However, this isn’t bad, because White can move the king out via f2, clearing the e1-square for the White kingside rook.} Bg4f5 18. Bc4d3 Bf5xd3 19. Rd1xd3 {With the rooks off, White’s game is a little less complicated, making it easier to convert the edge in the wrecked Black queenside pawns.} Rb8d8 20. Rd3e3 Ke7f6 21. Ke1e2 {I like 21. Kf2 a little better here so that White can double the rooks on the e-file. It’s just a little less ungainly.} Rf8e8 22. Rh1e1 Re8xe3 23. Ke2xe3 Rd8e8 24. Ke3d2 Re8xe1 25. Kd2xe1 Kf6e5 {Black hopes that his king activity will help him, but White simply doesn’t have very many weaknesses to exploit.} 26. Ke1e2 c5 27. Ke2e3 g5 28. g3 a5 {The last hope was h5, trying to block up the White kingside passed pawn.} 29. f4 gxf4 30. gxf4 Ke5f5 31. Ke3f3 {Black now tries to make tempo moves to avoid losing the opposition.} c4 {31. bxc4 was a little better. Why not take the pawn if possible?} 32. h3 cxb3 33. axb3 c5 {This wastes a possible tempo move, attainable with c6-c5, but Black is already lost.} 34. c4 h6 35. Kf3e3 {There is no problem with White moving the king as long as he protects the pawn. He just waits for Black to run out of pawn moves and have to retreat.} h5 36. Ke3f3 {1-0, because the pawn is through and will promote.}
eestist–amoz RHP 2005
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 f6 {This, apparently, is Black’s chosen defence, forcing White to retreat, although it creates weakness along the a2-g8 diagonal.} 7. Bg5f4 d6 8. Nf3xd4 {White takes back the pawn, preventing Be6 as a development idea.} Ng8e7 9. Bf1b5 {Although this does, indeed, pin the knight, the pin is easily escaped. 9. Bc4 capitalizes on the weaknesses created by f6.} O-O 10. Nd5xe7 Qd8xe7 11. Bb5xc6 bxc6 12. f3 {Castling and giving up the e4 pawn is better, as it doesn’t create quite so many weaknesses.} Bc8d7 {f5, blowing open the center, allows Black to capitalize on White’s lack of castling.} 13. O-O Ra8b8 {0-1. White timed out, robbing us of, perhaps, an interesting game.}
Finally, here are three Red Hot Pawn openings with the best response.
pdunne–kingaroo RHP 2011
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 Nc6e7 {Best!} 7. Bf1c4 {This is reasonable, targeting f7.} c6 8. Nd5xe7 Ng8xe7 9. O-O O-O 10. Nf3xd4 {White takes back the pawn before Black can somehow protect it.} h6 11. Bg5e3 d5 {Black finally hits back, getting a central presence.} 12. exd5 Ne7xd5 13. Qd1d3 Nd5xe3 14. fxe3 {This recapture gives White an isolated pawn on an open file, a huge target not fully recompensed by the now-developed-where-it-stands f1-rook.} c5 15. Qd3xg6 {White exploits the pinned f7-pawn, ignoring the attack on his knight.} Kg8h8 {Black defers taking the knight, sidestepping the threats on f7.} 16. Bc4xf7 {White takes, getting three pawns for the knight.} cxd4 17. Ra1d1 Qd8g5 18. Qg6xg5 hxg5 19. exd4 Bc8g4 20. Rd1d2 {By now, White has gotten three pawns for the piece, but Black has the better position, once the pieces work together.} Ra8d8 21. c3 Bg7e5 22. g3 Kh8g7 23. Bf7c4 Rf8xf1 24. Bc4xf1 Be5d6 25. Bf1g2 b6 26. a3 Bg4e6 27. Rd2f2 Rd8e8 28. Rf2e2 Re8e7 29. Re2e1 g4 30. Kg1f2 Kg7f6 31. Bg2h1 Re7h7 32. Kf2g1 Rh7h8 33. Re1f1 Kf6g5 34. Bh1e4 b5 35. d5 Be6c8 36. Rf1f7 Rh8e8 37. Rf7g7 Kg5f6 38. Rg7g6 Kf6e5 39. Be4g2 Bd6c5 40. Kg1f1 Re8h8 41. Rg6g7 Bc8f5 42. b4 Bc5b6 {0-1}
hozefs–Salrosa RHP 2012
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 Nc6e7 7. Nf3xd4 c6 8. Nd5xe7 Ng8xe7 9. Qd1d2 {So far, the game is following a similar path as the last game mentioned, pdunne-kingaroo, with White castling queenside to attack on the kingside.} d5 10. O-O-O O-O 11. exd5 {Instead of Black recapturing immediately, Black pushes back the bishop so that he can recapture with the knight.} f6 12. Bg5f4 Ne7xd5 13. Bf1c4 {White pins the knight, but it isn’t especially dangerous because he can’t effectively pile on.} g5 {Black lashes out, pushing back the bishop, which eliminates the White idea to trade bishops on h6.} 14. Bf4g3 a5 {Black hopes to attack White on the queenside.} 15. Rh1e1 f5 16. Bc4xd5 {To avoid getting the bishop trapped, White trades it off.} cxd5 17. Bg3e5 {White has found a way to trade off the bishops.} Ra8a6 18. Be5xg7 Kg8xg7 19. f4 {White hopes to block the f5-pawn, further hemming in the Black bishop.} g4 20. h3 {However, once this aim is achieved, White hopes to open up the kingside to attack the Black king.} a4 21. a3 Qd8c7 22. Re1e5 {White targets the weak Black pawns and occupies the outposts on Black’s side of the board.} Ra6f6 23. Re5xd5 Qc7c4 24. Rd5e5 gxh3 25. Re5e7 {White, before recapturing, trades off some of the Black defenders.} Rf8f7 26. Re7xf7 Kg7xf7 27. gxh3 {27. Nf3 was the best move, repositioning the knight with tempo due to the threat of Ne5+.} Bc8d7 28. Nd4f3 {Now, however, this threat comes with an additional attack on the d7-bishop.} Qc4a2 29. Qd2xd7 Kf7g6 30. Rd1g1 Kg6h6 31. Qd7g7 Kh6h5 32. Qg7g5 {1-0. Checkmate.}
And lastly, here’s another game, in which a harshly-fought game is decided by an intense blunder.
Alopinto–Kranium RHP 2005
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nc3d5 Bf8g7 6. Bc1g5 Nc6e7 7. Nf3xd4 c6 {Black forces the White knight to move, vacating its powerful d5-square.} 8. Nd5xe7 Ng8xe7 9. Qd1d2 {White prepares to, possibly, trade off the fianchettoed Black bishop, which would weaken his dark squares.} h6 {Black prevents this idea.} 10. Bg5h4 {Remaining on the c1-h6 diagonal is best, attacking the h6 pawn.} d5 11. O-O-O dxe4 {Black tries to open the center to get at White’s king, which is unexpectedly vulnerable.} 12. Qd2e3 g5 13. Bh4g3 Qd8a5 {Black gets more pieces attacking a2, b2, and c2, but his king, stuck in the center, is also immediately vulnerable.} 14. Bg3d6 Qa5xa2 15. Qe3xe4 O-O {Qa1+, flushing the White king out, is better.} 16. Bd6xe7 {16. Bd3, threatening mate, is best. This gets White’s pieces tangled up.} Rf8e8 17. h4 Qa2a1 18. Kc1d2 Qa1xb2 {Both players try to attack the other king, opening up room for the pieces to function.} 19. Bf1d3 {If Black takes the knight, Qh7+ mates.} f5 20. Nd4xf5 {20. Ba3! discovering the rook and threatening the queen, is best, about equally after simplifications.} Bc8xf5 21. Qe4xf5 Re8xe7 22. Qf5h7 Kg8f8 {Both kings are now out in the open. The perfect environment for a quick mating attack.} 23. Qh7f5 Re7f7 24. Qf5c5 Kf8g8 25. Rd1b1 Bg7c3 {0-1. Black will win the queen.}
In this blog, what’ve we learned? Well, for one, I probably just learned that I should avoid sticking a moral on the end of the blog. That sounded very stilted. However, we have learned that we should develop harmoniously. We’ve learned that we shouldn’t waste time. And we’ve learned, above all, that, even if you don’t memorize the openings, just follow general principles and be familiar with their resulting positions, and you’ll be fine. Chess on!
Discussion thread:
Thread 167016
–HikaruShindo
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