|
« TAP TO LOG IN
|
ANNOTATED GAME
Why is the Latvian Gambit Good for Black?
aci_duci (1694) vs. bleddy71 (1482)
Annotated by: bleddy71 (1200)
Chess opening: Latvian counter-gambit (C40)
aci_duci (1694) vs. bleddy71 (1482)
Annotated by: bleddy71 (1200)
Chess opening: Latvian counter-gambit (C40)
 Interactive |
• |  Show all comments |
• | All annotated games | • | View chessboard as: |
| ||||||||||
|
1. e4 |
This is a Latvian Gambit mini-tourney so the first three moves are set for each player. I annotated it to try to explain to myself why this crazy opening, in which Black allows White to ransack his position early on and gain a significant material advantage, actually gives Black some winning chances. The game ended in an interesting opposite colored bishops stalemate, which makes the ending pretty interesting too. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
1... e5 2. Nf3 |
Looks like a standard opening... | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
2... f5 |
Black offers a pawn. why? to speed his development and also, as most of the games in this tourney show, to open lines for his pieces (which is tantamount to development). | |||||||||
| 2 comments | ||||||||||
|
3. exf5 |
white takes | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
3... e4 |
OK. Here we start the tourney's original position. Black kicks the knight. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
4. Ne5 |
white chooses to target f7. The other option is 4. Nd4 but the move chosen by White puts Black in a more stressful position because the threatened Qh5 has more venom with the knight here than on d4. Why? because at 55 the knight puts pressure on the g6 square as well. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
4... Nf6 |
Paries the Qh5 threat. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
5. Be2 |
Good move. White announces he is going to check at h5 no matter what. Plus he gets ready to castle. He seems to be on offense, and he's already up a pawn. why did I ever give up that pawn in this crazy opening? | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
5... d6 |
Black tries to kick the white knight out. Plus he opens the line for his c8 bishop and threatens the capture of that f5 pawn. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
6. Bh5+ |
White follows through with his check. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
6... Ke7 |
Black has to move his king. why is the opening still used by players with the black pieces? Now I can't even castle.... | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
7. Nf7 |
On top of that, White has forked Black's queen and rook on move 7. Isn't Black supposed to get some initiative since he's the one who gave up the pawn?? | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
7... Qe8 |
This move saves the queen and it doubles the attack on white's Bishop if the knight takes the rook off the board. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
8. Nc3 |
White gets the other knight into play. Other options were to (1) 8. Nxh8, taking the rook; (2) 8. Nxd6, discovering an attack on the Black queen and later, if Black liquidates queens on h5, to take the unprotected c8 bishop. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
8... Nxh5 |
Here Black cracks under the pressure and takes the bishop with the knight. It might have been better to simply move the rook to g8. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
9. Nd5+ |
White checks with the c3 knight now that Black's f6 knight has left its post. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
9... Kxf7 |
and Black has to move his king... | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
10. Qxh5+ |
White brings the queen out with check. I ask again - what is black getting out of this? he's the one who should be attacking! | |||||||||
| 1 comment | ||||||||||
|
10... g6 |
a sheltering move - forced to protect the Black queen. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
|
11. fxg6+ Kg7 |
Now Black is using his opponent's pawn as shelter. | |||||||||
| | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
