King's Gambit (King's Bishop's Gambit), Internet Chess Club

OK, on to the other King's Gambit game I got in last weekend's ICC marathon.  This one was a King's Bishop's Gambit.  (See previous posts for the King's Knight's Gambit game.)

This is zavenc (1725) - jientho (1292).

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4  This is the King's Bishop's Gambit.  After Fischer "busted" the King's Knight's Gambit (3.Nf3 d6), word is that he played and won three tournament games as White using the Bishop's Gambit; here are two:  http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044179, http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044288.

3...Qh4+  I always take this check.  I think it messes up White more than Black.  And I have a simple system I developed using the computer.  The other common responses to the Bishop's Gambit are 3...Nf6 and 3...d5.

4.Kf1  Forced.  As I covered in the Knight's Gambit Part 1 post, 4.g3 loses a piece:  4...fxg3 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Qf3 Nf6 7.hxg3 Qxe4+ 8.Qxe4 Nxe4, or 5.Kf1 g2+ 6.Kxg2 Qxe4+ 7.Nf3 Qxc4.  If 4.Ke2, easiest is to snag an additional pawn via 4...Qg4+ 5.Ke1 Qxg2 6.Qf3 Qxf3 7.Nxf3 Nf6.

4...Nf6

This sets up my simple system targeting Ng4 and Ne3+, before or after Nf3 Qh6.

5.Nc3 Ng4  Before.  And now mate and Nxh2+ are both threatened.

6.Nh3  7.Qf3 is the only other option and it runs into 7...Ne5 8.Qe2 Nbc6.

6...c6  Keeping the knight out of d5 and b5.  Also preparing b5 and perhaps d5.

7.d4 g5  Standard call and response, black holding f4.

8.Bd2  Trying to develop. Also maybe eying Be1 to chase away my queen.

8...d5?  I don't know why I just throw away this pawn.  I think I just wanted to get my c8 bishop out with tempo.  8...d6 is much better.

9.dxe5  Now I notice my king has been exposed and so I had better pull the trigger:

9...Ne3+ 10.Bxe3 fxe3  Obviously I can't hold that pawn, but White has to find the right way to hit it.

11.Qe1

Apparently trying to hit (and pin) e3 and to expel the queen on h4 (to stop the Bxh3 threat) simultaneously.  But he apparently missed that it gives me a really good reply.  White had to find 11.Qd3.

11...Qxd4  And I find the right reply.  Gain a pawn, defend e3, and hit the undefended c4.

12.Bb3 Bc5?  I guess I was lining up on f2, and also looking to castle quick, but I needed to see that g5 was hanging and find g4.  Sadly, this non-optimal move took my longest think of the game, 3:15.

13.Rd1  Again trying to expel my queen and again apparently missing that I have a good reply.

13...Qf6+ 14.Nf2  Yes he has to give up the knight because Kg1 loses the d1 rook to the discovery e2+.  But now it's my turn to mis-calculate.

14...O-O  I must have thought this was necessary for getting the knight, or maybe just a stronger way to take it, or I was still obsessed with getting quickly castled.  Boy was that wrong.  Now it becomes just a piece trade, because I failed to see my opponent's fork threat.  Lesson:  consider all ways to capture, and don't be spooked by a pin that will dissolve.

15.Nce4  Fork!  Lesson: always look at opponent's possible attacks, not just your own.

15...Qxb2  I saw this as an exploit of the knight move.  But again, I must have missed Nd3 by which the knight escapes.  But my opponent chooses to liquidate:

16.Nxc5 exf2 17.Qxf2 Rd8 18.d6

I thought I had a nice pin, but of course the pawn is not pinned from moving forward, silly.  And now I have to deal with f7.  I should mention another factor at this point:  I now have 1:10 on the clock while my opponent has 10:14.

18...Qg7  Best, not hard to find.

19.d7?  Now it's my opponent's turn to throw away a pawn needlessly; it also allows me to unwind my cramped pieces.  He must not have seen the knight (3rd piece) covering d7.  But more likely he is just running down my clock.

19...Nxd7 20.Nxd7?  Much better would have been to just leave my knight pinned and my bishop thus blocked in.  Again, just a clock move.  I am at a sad 0:09.

20...Bxd7 21.Bxf7?  0:08

21...Qxf7 22.Qxf7 Kxf7  0:04

23.Kf2 Rf8  0:02

24.Rxd7+?  And I forfeit on time.

Well the obvious lesson here:  Learn how to use my time better.

Thanks for reading.  Comments welcome.