Three Lessons To Learn

Here is a game I played recently as White. There are three things in the game that are worth noting. Below is the move list with my annotation:

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ng5

This is the King's Gambit Accepted: Allgaier gambit (C39). I've only tried this a few times so far but am really impressed with it and will likely continue to use it in the future. Lesson 1, be aggressive, and the King's Gambit is one way to do it.


5. ... f3 6. gxf3 h6 7. Nxf7 Kxf7

The Knight is basically trapped, and why not take the pawn and remove the King's ability to castle? Black is behind in development and the King won't be able to hide easily.


8. Bc4+ d5

At first I thought this was a blunder. After looking more closely, I see it is so the Bishop will protect the g4 pawn.

9. Bxd5+ Ke8


10. d4 g3

White takes control of the center, and black moves the pawn to a surprisingly secure (considering how over-extended it is) g3.

11. Qe2 Nc6 12. Be3 Bg7 13. Nd2 Nxd4 14. Qd3 Qf6 15. c3

We now reach the high point of the middle game where the next few steps lead to a quick end.


15. ... Nxf3

This wins a pawn... but...

16. Nxf3 Qxf3

It brings the Queen far into White's kingside. Just like my article a few days ago, this can seem aggressive, but it's dangerous and can backfire. Lesson 2 is to watch out for this kind of thing!

17. Rf1 Qg4


This is Lesson 3... Don't miss the Checkmate possibility!! At this point, Black has left a wide open opportunity for checkmate with Bf7+ (... Kf8, Qd8# or ... Ke7, Bc5#). I missed it and got it later anyway, but Black could have escaped.

18. Rf4 Qg3

Black really wanted to attack with the Queen, but she's a little weak on her own and it tends to leave the rest of the board open for attack.

19. Bf7+ 1-0