A Gruenfeld

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cd Nxd5 5 e4 NxN 6 bc Bg7 7 Be3 0-0 8 Rc1  Usual moves here re Nf3, Bc4 and Qd2.  Rc1 is a distant fourth at only 6%.  I could have avoided this line by playing ...c5 on my last move.

8...c5 9 dc?  Played here are Nf3, Qd2 and d5.  Black's move is weak.

9...QxQ+ 10 KxQ Be6 11 a3 Rd8+ 12 Kc2 Nc6 13 Bb5 Na5 14 Bd4  The engine says this ups black's advantage from half a point to two points, a huge jump.  But my next move knocks the edge back down.

14...Rac8 15 BxB KxB 16 Ne2 Rxc5 17 Ba4 Nc4? (missing b5!) 18 Ra1? (Nd4) Ra5  19 Bb3  Rd2+ 20 Kc1 RxN 21 BxN BxB 22 Rd1 Rxf2 23 Rd7 Rb5 24 Rxe7 Rbb2 25 Rd7 Bb3 and mate soon on the back rank 0-1 

Yet Another Blackmar-Deimer

1 d4 d5 2 e4 de 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 ef 5 Nxf3 e6 5...Bg4 is most usual, and probably best. I like it when black plays 5...e6, as I can then preserve my light-squared bishop for use in a king-side attack.

6 Bd3 Be7 7 Bg5 0-0 8 Qd2 Nc6 9 0-0-0 Kh8 10 Rhe1 Nxd4 11 NxN QxN 12 BxN BxB 14 Re4  I am two pawns down but I have attacking chances on the light squares.

14...Qc5 15 Rc4 Qa5 16 Kb1 c6 17 Qe3 b5? 18 Rxc6 Bb7 19 Rc5 a6 20 Qh3 g6 21 Rh5 Bxg2?! 22 QxB PxR?? (BxN)  23 Qe4  Black resigns  1-0

Another Blackmar-Deimer

1 d4 d5 2 e4 de 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 ef 5 Nxf3 Bg4 6 Be2 White can try 6 Bc4, hoping that black will not see the threat of 7 Ne5. However, in my experience black almost always plays correctly with 6...e6; hence I play 6 Be2 and continue thematically rather than rely on a cheapo. The database move is 6 h3, but it scores a poor 38% for whit. 6...e6 7 0-0 Castling queen-side is probably stronger objectively, but I am more familiar with king-side castling. 7...a6 8 Bg5 Be7 9 Qd2 0-0 10 Rad1 Nd5 11 BxB NxB 12 Ne5 BxB 13 QxB Nd5 14 NxN QxN 15 c3 Nc6 16 Ng4?! The engine likes 16 NxN, and says 16...Qxa2 leaves black a clear pawn up. I was trying to create some king-side pressure. 16...Ne7 17 Ne5 Rad8 18 Rf3 Qd6 19 Rdf1 Nf5 20 g4 Nf6 21 g5 Nf5 22 Rh3 c5? Here black goes wrong. I now get a huge 5-point advantage. 23 Qh5 h6 24 gh Nxh6 25 Rg3? (Rf6!!+-) Kh7 26 Rxf7! RxR 27 NxR Qd5 (mate is now forced) 28 Qg6+ Kg8 29 Qxg7# 1-0

A Budapest Defense Game

This game is presented for two reasons: first, it show how easy it is for white to get a good game against the lame Budapest Defense; and second, the ending is a real shocker!

Moves began 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 3 de Ng4 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 b3  I have never played this move before, but it seemed logical.  The white queen's bishop will get a great diagonal to operate on. The only database game has white winning.

5...Ngxe5 6 NxN NxN 7 Bbb2 Bb4+ 8 Bc3 Qe7 9 BxB QxB+ 10 Qd2 QxQ+ 11 NxQ 0-0  The engine says equality here, but my focus is on exercising control of the crucial d-file, which to me will give me an advantage.

12 g3 d6 13 Bg2 c6 14 Rd1 Bf5 15 e4 Bg4 16 f3 Bh5 17 0-0 Rhd8 18 Nb1 Rfe8 19 Nc3 Nc3 f6 20 Rd2 Re7 21 Rfd1? Red7?  We both miss 21...Nxf3+.

22 Kf2 Kf7 23 h3 Ke6 24 g4 Bf7? 25 f4!  Wins a piece by force.

25...Ng6 26 f5+ Ke5 27 fg Bxg6 28 Ke3 h5 29 Bf3 h4 30 c5 Bf7 31 cd RxP 32 RxR 33 RxR KxR 34 Kd4 g5 35 Na4 b6 36 Kc3?  Here I inexplicably wander away from the king-side, allowing his king a worrisome incursion.

36...Ke5 37 Ke2 Kf4 38 Ke2 Kg3 39 Nc3 Kxh2 40 Kf2 Be6 41 e5!  A desperate attempt to get my knight into the game, and it succeeds handsomely.

41...fe 42 Ne4 Bxg4? 43 Nxg4+  And here I glanced at the time and realized to my horror that I only had 1.3 seconds left!  Fortunately, I saw the easy mate, the traditional mate of bishop + knight vs. king.  Pure luck.

43...Kh2 44 BxB Kh1 45 Bf3+ Kh2 46 Bg2! c5 47 Nf3#  1-0