SenseiDanya (1764) vs abrahamcharles (1305)

1770Episode 18 · 1-0

During the gameIn the review

  1. Scotch Game: 4...d6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bc4
  2. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6
  3. 3. d4 Why the Scotch suits beginners Opening He likes to showcase different openings, and today it is the Scotch. It is the one opening he recommends to beginners, because it teaches you to play with all your pieces. Opening the centre takes away a crutch: in closed positions there is less head-to-head combat and less chance of dropping a piece, while an open centre shows why every piece needs a good square and why active development matters - mistakes get punished, which is what a beginner needs. In the review: the name is thought to come from Scotland, because Edinburgh's club played it in 1824 in a correspondence match against London, the clubs mailing each other their moves. His database credits Napoleon with the first recorded game, in 1818 on Saint Helena, though the historian Edward Winter argues those games were invented to add to the legend. It is a sound opening that opens the centre and the bishop's diagonal, and it was his own main opening until about 1700 or 1800, when he switched to the Ruy Lopez.
  4. 3...exd4 4.Nxd4
  5. 4... d6 Opening one bishop by blocking the other Opening Not terrible, but passive. It opens one bishop and blocks the other, which can now only come to e7 - a serviceable square, not a great one. The best squares would come from the bishop to c5 or the knight to f6, the two main moves. He repeats that in the review, recommending the bishop move, and adds that the knight move is equally good - more classical, developing the knight before the bishop. Against the bishop move, if White takes on c6 the queen comes to f6 anyway: an in-between move threatening mate, and Black recaptures afterwards.
  6. 5.Nc3 Nf6
  7. 6. Bc4 Not every pin is effective Piece play Two squares to consider, b5 and c4. He likes the pin less, which will surprise people who love pins: not every pin is effective. The bishop to d7 unpins at once, the pin is empty, and the bishop is left staring at the knight with no good trade. On c4 it is much better, with sustained pressure on f7. Chess is gradual - one developing move does not mate anyone, and nothing on f7 is threatened yet. The bishop applies long-term pressure, controls a lot of squares, and prepares a possible attack.
  8. 6... g6 No time for two moves on one bishop Opening He fianchettoes. The review calls this a big mistake: Black cannot afford two moves to develop this bishop. The bishop to e7 was better - passive, but Black could castle and would be solid, slightly worse with White better developed but hard to beat quickly.
  9. 7. Nxc6 The queens' standoff, and her two defenders Tactics There is an even better move, an advanced one, and he walks through how he sees it rather than just playing it. In the starting position the queens face each other with more than one piece between them - a standoff. With only one piece between them, and that piece yours, it would be an x-ray. A standoff holds tactical potential if the position opens and the pieces in between disappear. Here Black's queen is defended twice, by the knight and the king. The king can be decoyed with a bishop check on f7 once the queens face each other, and the knight can simply be taken.
  10. 7...bxc6
  11. 8. e5 A decoy to clear the way to f7 Tactics Only the pawn on d6 stops the bishop taking on f7, and another decoy sacrifice removes it: the pawn attacks the knight. If it is not taken it wreaks havoc; if it is, the bishop takes f7 with check. He did not have to take the bishop afterwards, but his position would have been ruined anyway. The review plays out the capture: the bishop takes f7 and the king recaptures, and the queen falls on d8. One detail matters. In the Danish Gambit the same loss of the queen is fine for Black, because White's knight is still on b1 rather than c3, so the bishop to b4 comes with check and wins the queen back. With the knight on c3 that does not work - the bishop move is no longer check and just drops the rook. Much of chess mastery is perceiving small details like this, and comparing positions is how you get better at spotting them.
  12. 8...d5
  13. 9. Bg5 Open the centre against the less developed side Strategy The counterattack on the bishop raises the question of taking the knight - in general yes, because it opens the position, but there is a better way to do it. Conceptually the knight should be taken, and the bishop does it with a fork. If Black takes the bishop on c4, White can take the knight at once, or take the queen first and leave the bishop forking. Take the knight because the opponent is less developed: both bishops at home and nowhere near castling. The side furthest from castling usually suffers when the centre opens, because the e-file can be used to check an exposed king.
  14. 9...Be7
  15. 10. exf6 Recapture so the extra piece stays Tactics The bishop is hanging, so be careful which piece takes the knight. The pawn: if the bishop takes, Black takes it and the other bishop, and material is level; after the pawn takes, the most Black can get for the bishop is a pawn, and if he takes it White takes his bishop and stays a piece up.
  16. 10...Bxf6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Bd3 O-O 13.O-O Qg5
  17. 14. f4 Two ways to convert an extra piece Strategy A piece up, this is the conversion stage, and a piece is a decisive advantage in grandmaster terms. There are two overarching methods. Trade as many pieces as possible, aiming for the extra piece and pawns against pawns, where it has target practice. Or use the extra piece as one more player in an attack on the king, which by definition has more attackers. The queen to c1 offering a trade would be the first method. Coaches usually teach trading, but he pushes back: players often try so hard to trade everything that they make a mistake. So he attacks, with f4 and f5 to open the f-file towards the king. Trading is not the only way to convert; an attack is a full alternative, often quicker and more effective.
  18. 14...Qf6 15.f5
  19. 15... g5 Ask what the move just gave up General Not taking means making a weakness. After an important move, ask how the position has changed and what squares are now available. The pawn on g5 has given up h5, a great attacking square for the queen.
  20. 16.Qh5 Bxf5
  21. 17. Rxf5 Recapture with the piece that joins the attack Attack Two attackers and one defender on f5. The rook takes rather than the bishop, to bring the rook into the attack.
  22. 17...Qd4+ 18.Kh1 f6
  23. 19. Rxg5+ Clear the line with check Tactics Two pieces up, it can be done in style. The bishop and queen both aim at h7, so turn that into a move: with the rook gone from f5, the queen takes h7 with mate. Not to just any square - the ideal is to move the rook away with check, so he has to answer it and then mate follows. Moving it with an attack on the queen would be second best, since he could give up the queen. The check forces it: take the rook or move the king, and then the queen takes h7 with mate. In the review he calls it a simple discovery.
  24. 19...fxg5 20.Qxh7#
  25. Black was checkmated
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