Annotated chess game: The Damiano 'Defence'

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ANNOTATED GAME

The Damiano 'Defence'
Reuben vs. Brandon
Annotated by: reubencpiplupyay (1600)
Chess opening: Damiano's defence (C40)

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Hi! Today at my school's chess club, I was challenged to this game. My opponent used the Damiano Defence, which is a very risky opening. Enjoy!

1. e4	Controlling the centre and giving my queen and LSB space to move.
	1 comment aarouge (1885) on 21-Sep-15: Damiano was a great player, a Portuguese priest, Pedro Damiano (1480-1544). He writed about chess and analised 2.... f7-f6. He considered this a very weak move. Unfortunately, the weakest move became known as Damiano Defense.


1... e5	Nothing new yet.



2. Nf3	As usual.



2... f6	?! The Damiano Defence. This will allow me to mess up my opponent's position a lot. I prefer Nc3.
	1 comment glyutri (1200) on 10-May-15: Damiano Defense is a wrong name. Great 16th century master Damiano discover this line as a gambit with knight sacrifice (next move) playing with white.


3. Nxe5	Here is the knight sacrifice. From this point onwards, Black is in dire straits.



3... fxe5	He retakes, a bit surprised at my move.
	2 comments cdeburca (1840) on 08-May-15: Black can maybe hope to survive after 3. ... Qe7. But not now. archduke_piccolo (2332) on 13-May-15: The right move for Black is 3...Qe7 - and in fact it is a wee bit of a trap, but White should come out with the better game.


4. Qh5+	Check. Here is a chance to win a pawn.



4... Ke7	g6 allows me to get the rook, but this allows me to develop with tempo and wreck Black's position more.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 13-May-15: Yep. This is Black's best, though...


5. Qxe5+	Black is forced to do Kf7.



5... Kf7 6. Bc4+	Developing with tempo.



6... Kg6	Another option was d5, but that gives away a pawn at best.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 13-May-15: Black absolutely had to play 6...d5, here, to give himself something to defend with.


7. Qf5+	Black's king is once again forced, this time to h6.
	3 comments cdeburca (1840) on 08-May-15: This is a check, not a fork. reubencpiplupyay (1600) on 08-May-15: I mean he is forced to move to h6 glyutri (1200) on 10-May-15: Now You can see that 6 ... d5 was better.


7... Kh6 8. d4+	Discovered check. Qg5 is mate in one, so best is g5.



8... g5	The best move.



9. Bxg5+	Check. I don't think that this leads to a forced mate. However Qxg5 allows me to go on a killing spree, starting with Qxf8+. Is there a move here leading to forced mate?
	2 comments cdeburca (1840) on 08-May-15: 9. h4 is stronger, threatening BxP+ winning the queen and hg+ with a discovered check from the rook. If 9. ... QxB 10. QxB+, white has three pawns for the piece, but black suddenly has potential for counterplay with Qc1+ or Qxg2. Probably white is still winning, but it's not as clear as it could be. archduke_piccolo (2332) on 13-May-15: I think 9.h4, threatening 10.Bg5ch or 10.hxg5ch. Black must lose huge chunks of material after that.


9... Kh5	Allowing a mate in one, either by g4# or Bf7#.
	1 comment cdeburca (1840) on 12-May-15: Incorrect - black could just have played QxB and may survive.


10. Bf7#	Checkmate! Although we are equal in material points, we aren't in position. Black's king is stuck on the side of the board and no pieces have been developed. The moral: play the Damiano Defence with caution. Please give constructive and helpful comments.
	1 comment reubencpiplupyay (1600) on 08-May-15: You are right, jkarp. It's best to not play the Damiano at all and to follow good opening principles instead.