Happy Halloween from Greenpawn

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 {So far so neat and tidy.} 4. Nxe5 {Looks like a blunder but after...} 4... Nxe5 5. d4 {The pawns sweep up the board kicking the Knights about.} 5... Nc6 {This Knight usually goes to g6. We will look at that next.} 6. e5 Qe7 {This pin is a popular move But whilst the c3 Knight can reach d5 it's asking for some awkward moments.} 7. Be3 {Developing and breaking the pin.} 7... Ng8 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. Bc4 {This is what the opening is all about. Quick development and hope that Black makes a blunder untangling himself. At the lower levels it is during this untangling process where White scores the wins.} 9... d6 {This is OK having a poke at the central pawns.} 10. O-O {Castling with attacking ideas. Often in this gambit after castling White fires the f-pawn up the board.} 10... Nge7 {Better to stick to the original plan with 10...dxe5. Now Black is looking for exchanges.} 11. Bg5 {11...Be6 or 11...dxe5 but Black does not like being all pinned up so they break the pin....and break the King's heart.} 11... h6 12. Bh4 g5 {White now delivers their Halloween Card. Roses are red, Violets are blue....} 13. Nf6# {….Look I have checkmated you.}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 {Here we go again.} 4... Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Qe7 {There is that popular pin again.} 7. h4 {The idea here is to embarrass the g6 Knight with h4-h5.} 7... h5 8. Bg5 {And that pin again, this time the Bishop cannot be kicked with h6.} 8... d6 9. Nd5 {And another Nd5. White is playing on auto-pilot.} 9... Qd7 10. exf6 {White has won back the piece. When this happens White's superior development usually wins. But remember I did say usually.} 10... Qe6+ 11. Qe2 {The Queens are coming off. Under normal circumstances this would be a minor victory for Black. But here Black is still in the soup.} 11... Qxe2+ 12. Bxe2 Kd7 13. Bd3 c6 {We can understand Black wanting to get rid of that horrid d5 Knight but this just highlights the mess Black was in. They could have tried Rb8 leaving c6 for the Black King, however even then the Black position is hanging.} 14. Bf5+ Kd8 15. fxg7+ {Black resigned....just in time.} *

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7. Bc4 Bb4 {This looks like a better showing from Black.} 8. O-O Bxc3 9. Qf3 {White slips in a mate threat before taking on c3 (thus keeping their queenside pawns intact. It's an idea borrowed from The Scotch Gambit) .} 9... f6 10. Qxc3 d5 11. Bd3 {Black is now in a hard to handle type of position which this opening tends to give them. There is usually a way out of it but the problems are often too much for less experienced players which is why this gambit is so popular at club level..} 11... Nh6 {Trying to get castled is understandable. 11...N8e7 was the move.} 12. Bxg6+ hxg6 13. exf6 {Black is now to reluctant to give up the c7-pawn. The secret to reaching a playable line in this opening is not to hang onto material. See the next game.} 13... gxf6 {13...Qxf6 14.Qxc7 0-0 Black has the piece - White has the pawns.} 14. Bxh6 {Black can now play 14....g5. they can then pick up the Bishop on h6 15.Bg7 Rh7. The Germans have a brilliant word for an in-between-move. It's zwischenzug (at least I think it is - I hope I am not swearing at my German readers.)} 14... Rxh6 {See it?} 15. Qe3+ {It ends with a simple coffee house trick. The h6 Rook falls.}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 6. d5 Bb4 {It's as simple as that. Black gives back the piece with, some claim, a better game. White has shot their first move bolt. White is going to get nothing from this opening.} 7. dxc6 Nxe4 8. Qd4 Qe7 9. cxd7+ {This capture in this position is a common White error, it simply develops Black pieces.} 9... Bxd7 10. Be3 O-O {You cannot argue with this as Black. Castled first and pieces easily developed. White now blundered by playing an automatic move.} 11. O-O-O {This prompted Black to play for a trap. 11....Nxc3 was played clearly anticipating 12.Qxd7 Rad8 13.Qxe7 Rxd1mate. But in answer to 11....Nxc3 White played 12. bxc3 and due to a silly blunder White actually went onto win. The move which places White in trouble is....} 11... Bxc3 {12.bxc3 Qa3+ and Nxc3+ wins the White Queen. So White maintains material equality with...} 12. Qxd7 Qb4 {White is in all kinds of trouble. Not the position they envisaged when they played 4.Nxe4}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 {This way of getting in to the Four Knights v the Petrov is perfectly acceptable. It develops a piece.} 3... Nc6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. Bg5 {Not good. The f6 Knight is a target for the e-pawn, this just encourages piece swapping, Black is happy to oblige.} 6... h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 {OK this may push the Queen back to d8 but the pawn roller idea has gone.} 8... Qc6 {This appears to be just playable. White could have tried 9.Bb5 here. The trick being if 9...Qxb5 10.Nxc7+ wins the Queen.} 9. c4 {I'm thinking White has seen the idea. c4-c5 when Bb5 is a real threat. It is pity it is Black's move. They slip out a real beauty.} 9... Nf4 {Spotting right away the drawback of White's last move. Yes Black has hung a Knight but before White moved a few things happened...}

[FEN "r1b1kb1r/pppp1pp1/2q4p/3N4/2PPPn2/8/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 0 10"]

10. Nxf4 Bb4+ {Qd2 would be silly, it just losses the Queen. So....} 11. Ke2 Qxe4 {Checkmate. Happy Halloween.}