Introduction, and a deep game analysis - King's Gambit Declined, Keene Defense
Welcome to my chess blog! I am Filip Rachůnek, BrainKing.com game site creator, and a chess enthusiast. I created this blog to publish articles about interesting chess problems, various techniques, opening traps, and other things that caught my attention. Besides that, I am preparing a new YouTube channel to provide a chess content from my perspective.
This is mostly a test post, as I am getting familiar with this blog system. Let me start with a comprehensive analysis of one of my favorite chess games, played on BrainKing.com in 2021.
The defense already appeared in a textbook from the 19th century. The author was Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, a German master and theoretician, a member of the "Berlin Pleiades" group. Raymond Keene was credited with exploring it and finding a better game for black.
1. e4 e5 2. f4 ♛h4+ 3. g3 ♛f6 (Bilguer was mainly referring to 3. … ♛e7, which is considered the main line supporting the meaning of this variation - pressure on the e-file, while the g3 pawn on the king side is rather a hindrance. The game Andersson-Keene, Nice 1974 continued 4. fxe5 d6 5. exd6 ♛xe4+ 6. ♕e2 ♛xe2+ 7. ♘xe2 ♝xd6 and the opponents agreed to a draw after a few more moves. Given the highly unusual opening and the low number of moves, some annotators speculated whether it was a regular game or a pre-arranged draw in the interests of the team - the game was part of the 21st Chess Olympiad - in the England-Sweden match.)
4. fxe5 ♛xe5 5. ♗g2 (It was my first time against Keene defense, so without theoretical preparation, it took me some time to think whether it would not be more appropriate to continue with 5. ♘c3. The bishop's lateral development eventually won, the attacked pawn is well covered, and the move looks like a logical consequence of the previous 3. g3. In addition, I retain the possibility of developing the king's knight on e2, which leaves the f-file free.) 5. ... d5 6. d4 ♛d6 7. exd5 (Due to the advance in development, opening another file looked stronger than the advance 7. e5, especially when I can capture a pawn practically for free.) 7. … ♞f6 8. c4 ♛b4+ 9. ♘d2 ♝e7 10. ♘e2 (Both knights are on the second rank, which quite unusual for me. However, this is an unusual opening and, as it turns out in a few moves, the rook attack on the f column decides the game in favor of white.) 10. … O-O 11. O-O ♝g4 12. h3 ♝xe2 13. ♕xe2 ♝d6? (Black is not standing very well, however, 13. … ♞bd7 with another 14. … ♜e8 would at least give him more effective counterplay options. Now his defense will be scattered by the exchange.)
14. ♖xf6! gxf6 15. ♗e4! (The immediate 15. ♕g4+? ♚h8 would uncomfortably undermine the attack plan, as white lacks the tempo to activate the supporting pieces and black could find a defense. For example, 16. ♕f5 ♜g8 17. ♕xf6+ ♜g7, followed by 18. … ♞d7 and moving the second rook to protect the king.) 15. … ♜e8? (Black should have first inserted 15. … h5 and after 16. ♕xh5, at least ♜e8 would not have led to the loss of the rook. But he still would not have been able to resist the attack for long.) 16. ♗xh7+ ♚xh7 (Or 17. … ♚f8 18. ♘e4 ♜e7 19. ♕g4.) 17. ♕xe8 ♚g7 18. ♘f3 ♛xc4 (White is up two pawns and has a crushing attack that would no doubt lead to a winning endgame. However, a nice bishop sacrifice can win the game in six moves.)
19. ♗h6+!! ♚xh6 (Rejecting the sacrifice would lead to the same result. 19. … ♚h7 20. ♕xf7+ ♚xh6 21. ♕xf6+ ♚h7 22. ♘g5+ ♚g8 23. ♕f7+ ♚h8 24. ♕h7#) 20. ♕h8+ ♚g6 21. ♘h4+ ♚g5 22. ♕g7+ ♚h5 23. ♕xf7+ ♚g5 24. ♕g6#
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