Chess Is Chess 2020: Chess Is Chess, #2

Introduction

This book is the annual collection of 116 chess games from my blog during the year 2020. The last half are Blackmar-Diemer Gambits. The first half includes other openings – good and bad.

I like short chess wins in any opening. I write about masters and rank amateurs. I use tournament games or online blitz games.

My analysis is entertaining and informative. I criticize bad ideas, but I don’t try to find fault with players. We’re all deeply flawed. When I select a game, I run blunder check with a chess engine to note big mistakes. I comment on why the result happened.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 confined millions of people to their homes with little to do but play games and watch shows. The game of chess saw a wonderful spike in online play. I hope live tournaments will return in real life. I await 2021.

One top show in 2020 was the Queen’s Gambit miniseries on Netflix. What if the fictional and flawed Beth Harmon came along instead of Bobby Fischer? The show made chess books popular.

I wrote 3200 chess game blog posts from 2011 to 2020. Games stay on the blog temporarily. I remove games and put them in books. Blog games through 2020 are found in these 16 books:

Chess Is Chess 2020: Games from my Blog

Chess Is Chess 2019: Games from my Blog

King Pawn 1.e4 e5 – Second Edition

French Defence 1.e4 e6 – Second Edition

Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 – Second Edition

Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 – Second Edition

Alekhine & Pirc 1.e4 – Second Edition

Queen Pawn 1.d4 d5 – Second Edition

Indian Defences 1.d4 Nf6 – Second Edition

Bird & Dutch 1.f4 & 1...f5 – Second Edition

Rare First Moves – Second Edition

Queen’s Knight 1.Nc3 & 1...Nc6 – Second Edition

Blackmar-Diemer Games 1: Accepted 4.f3 exf3

Blackmar-Diemer Games 2: Declined 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4

Blackmar-Diemer Games 5: Gambit Accepted and Declined

Blackmar-Diemer Games 8: Gambit Accepted and Declined

If you have all these books, you have all 10 years of games!

Chapter 1 – Flank Openings

Game 01 – Zilbermints 1.g4 e5

Lev Zilbermints chooses adventuresome openings to surprise his chess opponents. He's famous for the Blackmar-Diemer and Zilbermints Gambit 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nge7. Yes, Lev seems drawn to any offbeat line. That includes Grob's Attack 1.g4. I played in thematic Grob postal tournaments. I faced the infamous Claude Bloodgood while he was in prison. Claude was an entertaining correspondent. The Grob Opening leads to unpredictable positions. Here Lev Zilbermints comes out on top in the end.

Zilbermints (2068) - zhuzhusnowcup (2044), ICC 5 0 Internet Chess Club, 25.03.2020 begins 1.g4 e5 2.d3 d5 3.h3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Be6 5.Nc3 Bb4 [5...h5!-/+] 6.Bd2 Nf6 7.a3 Ba5?! [7...Bxc3=/+] 8.e4!? Bb6 9.Nge2 [9.g5 d4 10.Na4=] 9...Bxg4?! [9...dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 0-0=/+] 10.hxg4 Nxg4 11.Rf1 [11.d4! exd4 12.Nxd5 Nxf2 13.Kxf2 d3+ 14.Nxb6 dxe2 15.Qxe2 axb6 16.Bc3+-] 11...Qh4 [11...Bxf2+! 12.Rxf2 Qh4! 13.Ng3 Qxg3 14.Qf3=] 12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd5 d3 14.Nxb6 dxe2 15.Qxe2 axb6 16.0-0-0 [16.Rh1+/-] 16...h5 [16...0-0-0=] 17.Rh1? [17.f3+/=] 17...Qf6? [17...Qxf2! 18.Qxg4 hxg4 19.Rxh8+ Ke7 20.Rxa8 Qxg2-/+] 18.Qxg4! Rxa3 [18...hxg4 19.Rxh8+ Ke7 20.Rxa8 Qxf2 21.Bf1+/-] 19.Qc8+ Nd8 20.Kb1 Ra4 21.e5 Qxf2 22.Be3 Black resigns 1-0

Game 02 – Zilbermints 1.b3 e5

Lev Zilbermints won against Larsen’s Opening using a counter gambit as Black. The game began 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d5!? 3.Bxe5 d4. This prevents the bishop from returning to b2 and creates an unusual position in a blitz game. White faltered on move 10. Zilbermints outplayed his opponent to win in the endgame.

Checharov (2152) - Zilbermints (2116), ICC 5 0 Internet Chess Club, 26.03.2020 begins 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d5 3.Bxe5 d4 4.Nf3 [4.c3+/=] 4...Nc6 5.Bg3 h5!? 6.h3 Nf6 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bh2 dxe3 9.fxe3 Bd6 10.Bxd6? [10.Nc3 Bg3+ 11.Bxg3 Nxg3=] 10...Qxd6 11.Qe2 Qg3+ 12.Kd1 Nf2+ 13.Kc1 Nxh1 14.Nc3 Be6 15.Kb2 Qf2 16.Qb5 0-0-0 [16...Ng3 17.Qxb7 0-0-+] 17.Ne4 Rd5 18.Qxd5 [18.Qc4 Rxd2 19.Nxf2 Bxc4 20.Nxd2 Bxf1 21.Rxf1=] 18...Bxd5 19.Nxf2 Nxf2 20.d3 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Nh1 22.Bg2 Ng3 23.f4 h4 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Kc3 Rd8 26.Kd2 Nf5 27.Rg1 Ng3 28.Rg2 Rd5 29.c4 Ra5 30.a4 Rh5 31.e4 f5 32.e5 c5 33.Ke3 Rh8 34.a5 Rd8 35.Rf2 [35.Rb2 Kd7-+] 35...a6 36.Rf3 c6 37.Rf2 Kd7 38.Rf3 Ke6 39.Rf2 Rb8 40.Rb2 Rb4 41.Kf3 g6 42.Ke3 Rb8 43.Kf3 Nh5 44.Ke3 Ng7 45.Rg2 Kf7 46.Rb2 Ne6 47.Rb1 Nd4 48.b4 Rxb4 49.Rxb4 Nc2+ 50.Kd2 Nxb4 51.Kc3 Ke6 52.d4 [52.Kd2 g5-+] 52...cxd4+ 53.Kxb4 c5+ 54.Kb3 g5 55.fxg5 Kxe5 56.Kc2 f4 57.Kd3 Kf5 58.g6 Kxg6 59.Ke4 f3 60.Kxf3 Kf5 61.Kf2 Ke4 62.Ke2 d3+ 63.Kd2 Kd4 White resigns 0-1

Game 03 – Cavicchi 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5

Francesco Cavicchi calls this game: A killer From Gambit. White played Bird's Opening 1.f4 expecting the natural 1...d5 with a Dutch Defence reversed with an extra move. Black thwarted White hopes with the From Gambit 1...e5!? The game continued 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 (Lasker Variation).

Black threatens 5.Nc3 g4 6.Ng1 Qh4+ 7.g3 Qxg3+ 8.hxg3 Bxg3 mate! White stopped this and defended well until move 13. Then Francesco Cavicchi mounted an overwhelming attack. Note 1.f4 e5 2.e4 transposes to 1.e4 e5 2.f4 which is the King's Gambit!

quadrupelbauer (2206) - Cavicchi (2002), Rated Blitz game lichess, 11.02.2020 begins 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3 g4 6.Nh4 Ne7 7.Nc3 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Ne4 Be5 10.c3 f5 11.Nf2 c5 12.Bg2 [12.Qb3!?+/=] 12...Nc6 13.0-0? [13.Qb3 Qe7 14.Bd5+/=] 13...Rxh2! 14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Bxg3 16.Nh3 gxh3 17.Bd5 h2+ [17...Be6! 18.Bxe6 Bd6-+] 18.Kh1 f4 19.Qa4 Bd7 20.Qe4+ Ne7 21.Bxb7 Rb8 22.d4 [22.Ba8 Qh3-/+] 22...Rxb7 23.Qxb7 [Or 23.d5 g5 24.Rf3 Bg4-+] 23...Bc6+ 24.Qxc6+ Nxc6 25.e3 g5 [25...fxe3!-+] 26.exf4 gxf4 27.dxc5 Ne5 [27...Qe7!-+] 28.b4 Ng4 29.Bxf4 Bxf4 [29...Ne3!-+] 30.Rae1+ Ne3 31.Rf3 Qxe1+ White resigns. 0-1

Chapter 2 – Dutch Defence

Game 04 – Wight 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4

David Wight wins with a Staunton Gambit against the Dutch Defence. Both players risked danger in the hope of a winning attack. They reached a material imbalance with a bishop and knight vs a rook and a pawn. Black played actively, but White's threats proved to be stronger in this sharp tactical contest against BoniekNur.

Wight (1812) – BoniekNur (1670), Rated Blitz game lichess, 31.01.2020 begins 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 d5 4.f3 [4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxd5 +/-] 4...Nf6 5.fxe4 dxe4 6.Bg5 Bg4 7.Be2 Bxe2 8.Ngxe2 h6 [8...Qd6 9.Ng3+/=] 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.0-0 [10.Nf4+-] 10...c5 11.d5 Bd6 12.Nxe4 Be5 13.c3 b6 [13...0-0 14.N2g3+/=] 14.Nf4 0-0 15.Ne6 Qe7 16.Nxf8 Kxf8 17.Qh5 Nd7 18.Rae1 Re8 19.d6 Qe6 20.Qg6 Kg8 [20...Rd8 21.Qh7+-] 21.b3 [21.Rxf6! Bxf6 22.Nxf6+ Nxf6 23.Qxe8+ Qxe8 24.Rxe8+ Kf7 25.Re7+ Kf8 26.Rxa7+-] 21...Nf8 [21...Rd8 22.Re2+/-] 22.Qh5 [22.Nxf6+! Bxf6 23.Rxe6 Rxe6 24.Qd3+-] 22...Bxc3 [22...Rd8 23.Re2+/-] 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 [23...gxf6 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.Qd5+-] 24.Rxf6 [24.Qxe8!+-] 24...Rxe1+ 25.Kf2 gxf6