0 The Scotch Gambit

The 6.Qh5!? Line

My game of the week features a Scotch Gambit refuted by Paul Morphy (see "Meek -- Morphy 1855"). In the annotations to that game, I mentioned but did not explore 6.Qh5!? At first site, this aggressive line looks dangerous. However, with accurate play, Black gets the better game.

A handful of games in the nineteenth century revealed the main ideas and tactics.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4

The Scotch Opening

3...exd4 4.Bc4

The Scotch Gambit

White sacrifices a pawn for rapid deployment.

4...Bc5

4...Nf6 is also playable.

5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Qh5!?

Black to move

Black has three reasonable replies:

a) 6...O-O

b) 6...Qf6

c) 6...Qe7

For each of these Black replies, I offer an illustrative game.

6...O-O

A. Johnston played the Scotch Gambit twice in the Second American Chess Congress, Cleveland 1871. He had an advantage for much of the game in this encounter.

Johnston,A -- Smith,Harsen Darwin [C44]
USA–02.Kongress Cleveland, 1871

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Qh5 0–0 7.Bxf7+

A more recent game continued 7.0–0 d6 8.h3 Ne5 9.Bb3 Qf6 10.Kh1 Kh8 11.f4 d3? and Black threw away a nice position with a series of errors. Facchetti,G (2159) -- Bisignano,G (2055)/Gorgonzola 2003. White won in 24 moves.

7...Rxf7

Obviously not 7...Nxf7 8.Qxh7#.

8.Nxf7

Black to move

8...Nxf7

Black should have played 8...Bb4+ 9.c3 Nxf7 10.cxb4 Nxb4 11.Qd1 when Black has good compensation and a pawn for the exchange.

9.Qxc5 d6

The position is similar to the main line, except that White is ahead an exchange.

10.Qc4 Qe7 11.Qe2 Nfe5 12.0–0 Be6 13.Na3 Rf8 14.f4 Bg4 15.Qb5 Ng6 16.Qxb7 Qxe4 17.Qb3+ Kh8 18.Qg3 Bf5 19.Qf3 Qe8 20.Bd2 Be4 21.Qg3 Nce7 22.Rae1 d5 23.f5 Nxf5 24.Qxc7 Ngh4 25.Rf2 Qg6 26.Qg3 Qe8 27.Qh3 h6 28.g4 Qg6 29.Rxe4??

29.Rf4 Rc8 30.Kf2

29...dxe4 30.Kh1 e3 31.Rxf5 Nxf5 32.gxf5 Qc6+ 33.Kg1 exd2 34.Qd3 Rxf5 35.Qxd2 Qg6+ 0–1

6...Qf6

The last ten moves of Max Lange's thrashing of Hermann Pollmacher offer a study in piece coordination.

Lange,Max -- Pollmacher,Hermann [C44]
Leipzig, 24.09.1856

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Qh5 Qf6 7.f4

White has other options, but this aggressive move is in the spirit of his play so far.

Black to move

7...d6

A pawn sacrifice appears to be Black's best option here. 7...d5! 8.Bxd5 Bg4 9.Bxf7+ is White's only move (9.Qh4 leads to a worse position quickly. 9...Nb4 10.Bb3 d3 and Black is running over the top of White's position.) 9...Qxf7 10.Nxf7 Bxh5 11.Nxh8 Nb4 12.Na3 (12.h3 Nxc2+) 12...0–0–0 with an initiative for Black.

8.h3 0–0 9.0–0 Be6? 10.Bd3 Qg6 11.Qxg6 hxg6 12.f5 gxf5 13.exf5 Bd5 14.f6

Black to move

14...gxf6??

14...Nb4

15.Rxf6

Even more convincing is 15.Nh7!

15...Kg7 16.Rxh6 Kxh6 17.Ne6+! Kh5 18.Nf4+ Kh4

18...Kh6 offers small hope 19.Nxd5+ Kg7 20.Nxc7 Rac8±.

19.Nxd5+- f5 20.Bf4 Ne5 21.Nd2 c6 22.g3+ Kxh3 23.Bf1+ Kg4 24.Kg2 Kh5

24...cxd5 25.Be2+ Nf3 26.Bxf3#.

25.Ne7 Ng4 26.Be2 Rae8 27.Rh1# 1–0

6...Qe7

6...Qe7 is probably Black's best choice. Adolf Anderssen was one of the first to play this move.

Von Eckstadt,Count Vitzthum -- Anderssen,Adolf [C44]
Leipzig, 1855

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.f4

7.0–0 may be better.

7...d6 8.h3

Black to move

8...Na5

Better might have been the simple 8...Bd7 9.0–0 0–0–0 Black's lead in development gives him an edge.

9.Bd3 Nf5 10.Nxf7

10.Qxf7+ offers White better prospects of equality. 10...Qxf7 11.Nxf7 Kxf7 12.exf5.

10...g6 11.Qe2

11.Qf3? Kxf7 12.0–0 Ne3 13.Bxe3 dxe3–+.

11...Ng3 12.Qf3 Nxh1 13.Nxh8 Qh4+ 14.Kd1? 

14.Kf1 is more stubborn.

14...Nf2+–+ 15.Ke2 Nxd3 16.Qxd3

16.cxd3 Qf6 17.Nxg6 hxg6–+.

16...Be6 17.Qb5+ Nc6 18.Qxb7

Black to move

18... d3+! 19.cxd3 Nd4+ 20.Kd1 Bg4+ 21.hxg4 Qh1+ 0–1

Detail: The Scotch Gambit

0 Problem in the French

The Exchange variation of the French is reputed to give Black easy equality, but it remains a popular choice among amateur players. In a recent online game played at fifteen minutes for the whole game, I quickly found myself in trouble because I was fixing breakfast rather than attending to the game.

Internet Opponent -- Stripes,J [C01]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5

The Exchange variation

3...exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Be2

An unusual move. White's best chance for advantage in the Exchange variation results from vigorous play. This seemingly natural developing move seems too slow.

5.Bb5 and 5.c4 both seem better. Despite my seeming disdain for the Exchange variation, I play it with some frequency. 5.c4 is nearly always my choice here. (See "French Perfume" for harsh criticism of the Exchange variation.)

5...Bd6

Black proceeds with his normal approach to the Exchange variation.

6.0–0 Nge7 7.c4!?

Black to move

This forcing move appears in a mere nine games in the ChessBase database. I have faced it four times in online play. My only loss came as a result of an elementary blunder in the endgame.

7...dxc4

Although nothing else makes any sense, I played 7...Bxh2+ in a blitz game once.

8.Bxc4

Black to move

Black has an important decision to make here.

8...Bg4??

Playing by rote, I blundered.

8...0–0 seems best 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Be3 Nf5 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nfxd4 13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxb7 Rb8 15.Qd5 c6 16.Qe4 (16.Qxd4 Bh2+ 17.Kxh2 Qxd4) 16...Rxb2 with a slight advantage for Black 0–1 Antonov,A (2055) -- Akhmetov,A (2373) Izhevsk 2014 (Black won in 27 moves)

8...Bf5 9.Nc3 a6 10.Re1 b5 11.Bd3 0–0 with a slight advantage for White 0–1 Cook,M (2039) -- Scott,D (2017) England 2013 (Black won in 44 moves)

8...h6 9.h3 0–0 10.Nc3 Ng6 11.Qc2 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Qxh4 13.Qe4 Qxe4 14.Nxe4 and it seems that both players have equal chances 1–0 Kharakhinov,A (2024) -- Radnaev,A (2052) Ulan Ude 2011 (White won in 47 moves)

9.Bxf7++- Kf8

9...Kxf7 loses quickly 10.Ng5+

Black to move

Analysis Diagram

a) 10...Ke8 11.Qxg4 Nxd4 12.Be3+-

b) 10...Kf8 11.Qxg4 Qe8 (11...Nd5 12.Ne6+) 12.Qf3+ Kg8 13.Qb3+ Kf8 14.Ne6+ Kg8 15.Nxc7+ Qf7 16.Nxa8+-

c) 10...Kg8 11.Qb3+ Nd5 12.Qxd5+ Be6 13.Qxe6+ Kf8 14.Qf7#

10.Bb3

White has a clear advantage that should prove decisive. I suffered many moves before my opponent finally offered me chances through a blunder.

Detail: Problem in the French

0 Opening Inaccuracy

Chess is so deep and varied that even on the sixth move in a familiar line, one can reach new positions. Yesterday, I had the Black side of a Nimzo-Indian Defense that transposed into a somewhat obscure line of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5

4...c5 is the normal move in the spirit of the Nimzo-Indian Defense.

5.Qa4 Nc6 6.e3

6.Bg5 is almost as popular and is given in the first four lines of the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. It may be of interest that in Chess Informant 10/600 Vladimir Sokolov judged 6.Bg5 as dubious, suggesting 6.e3. Perhaps 6.e3 is slightly more accurate than 6.Bg5. Even so, both moves have been played often.

Black to move

6...O-O appears to be the normal move here. My 6...Bd7 is the second most popular choice. Zoltan Gyimesi is the highest rated player who has played 6...Bd7 and he lost that game in a queen ending with most of the pawns remaining on the board and a nearly locked position.

It is hard to blame the opening for that loss. Nonetheless, the scoring percentage differences between 6...O-O and 6...Bd7 seem significant. White scores 55.6% over 411 games after Black castles. In the 55 available games with 6...Bd7, White's score jumps to 68.2%.

In my game, my position quickly grew poor with terrible piece coordination. My position was lost until my opponent blundered an exchange that led to an ending where I had a rook against a knight. All the pawns eventually came off and the game was drawn.

Is 6...Bd7 an inaccuracy, perhaps even an error? I think so.

6...Bd7 forces White's queen to move a second time due to the threatened discovery. 6...O-O steps out of the pin. Perhaps the queen then has less purpose on a4 and will be compelled to move again when Black's bishop is no longer a target.

Why is it an error? Does the bishop have a better square? It may. In games where Black castles, the bishop often goes to d7, but sometimes it goes to e6 or f5. In a few games, it takes up a position on b7. The major problem with 6...Bd7 is that it wastes time. Pieces should be placed on their best squares when they move for the first time. It is not clear in the diagram position where this bishop will be best placed. It is clear, however, that Black will castle kingside.

Detail: Opening Inaccuracy