62. The Refutation of the King’s Gambit – Part 2

{[%evp 0,62,29,38,12,16,-21,-9,5,-5,-32,-27,-55,-55,5,-8,31,-4,7,60,32,-33,-42,
-45,-32,-65,-68,-76,-58,-78,-81,-81,-81,-83,-66,-72,-27,-149,-103,-164,-78,-72,
-107,-85,-75,-60,-60,-60,-71,-68,0,0,157,-117,-66,-22,2,-111,-79,-92,-83,-92,
-92,-89,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 $2 exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 $1 4. e5 Nh5 5. Be2 g5 $1 6. O-O
h6 $1 {[#] In the last post I presented the decent move 6..Ng7. The text move,
however, appears to be the strongest option. Black fortifies his structure and
prevents 7.Nxg5. In the meanwhile, he stays flexible and waits for further
information. The third option, 6..Rg8 also promises Black a good game, but is
not quite on the same level. Hence, there is no need for publishing it.} 7. d4
(7. Nxg5 $2 {Opening the h-file will prove fatal for White.} hxg5 8. Bxh5 d6 {
The engines already sees Black more than 3 pawn units ahead. Here is an
exemplary line:} 9. Qe2 Be6 10. Bf3 g4 $1 11. Bxb7 Rxh2 $1 12. Kxh2 Qh4+ 13.
Kg1 g3 $19) (7. Re1 {Obviously, White intends to freeze the d-pawn for the
time being.} Ng7 (7... Nc6 8. d4 d5 9. exd6 Bxd6 $17) (7... d5 $4 8. exd6 Bxd6
9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Re8+ $18) 8. Bc4 (8. d4 d5 9. exd6 Bxd6 10. Bb5+ Kf8 {[%cal
Gg7e8] This line provides the Schallopp-knight with yet another opportunity to
shine! Here a possible continuation:} 11. Nc3 Nd7 12. Ne4 Nf6 13. Nxd6 cxd6 14.
Bd3 Nf5 15. b3 Kg7 16. Bb2 d5 $17) 8... g4 {Black may opt for safer
alternatives, but accepting the piece sacrifce is objectively best.} (8... Nf5
9. d4 Bg7 $17) (8... Be7 9. Nc3 d6 $17) 9. d4 gxf3 10. Qxf3 Qh4 11. Re4 Qh5 12.
Qf2 (12. Qxf4 Ne6 13. Qf1 d5 14. Bxd5 Nc6 15. Be3 Bd7 $19) 12... Ne6 13. Nc3 b5
14. Nd5 (14. Nxb5 Bb7 15. Rxf4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 Na6 $19) 14... Be7 15. Nxe7 bxc4
16. Nd5 Qg6 17. Qh4 Qg5 18. Qf2 Bb7 19. Nf6+ Qxf6 20. exf6 Bxe4 21. Bxf4 d5 $19
) 7... d6 $1 $146 {Challenging White's center is better than [#]} (7... d5 $6 {
which provides White with the option to do the challenging:} 8. c4 $1 $15 {
½-½ (48) Goldberg,A-Unger,G DDR 1981}) 8. Re1 (8. Nc3 d5 $1 $17 {This is
fine now, as White doesn't have the pawn break c4 at his disposal anymore.}) (
8. c3 Ng7 9. Nbd2 Be7 $17) (8. c4 $1 Ng7 (8... dxe5 9. Nxe5 Nf6 10. b3 Bd6 (
10... Nbd7 11. Nxd7 Bxd7 12. Bf3 Be7 13. Bxb7 Rb8 14. Bf3 O-O 15. Bb2 Re8 16.
h3) 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Bf3 Nbd7 13. Nd2 Re8 14. Re1 Bb4 15. Nd3 Rxe1+ 16. Qxe1 Bf8
17. h3 Bg7 18. Rd1 c6 19. d5 cxd5 20. cxd5 Nb6 $15) 9. Nc3 Nf5 10. Bd3 dxe5 11.
dxe5 Bg7 12. Nd5 O-O 13. Qc2 c6 14. Nf6+ Bxf6 15. exf6 Nd4 16. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 17.
Kh1 c5 18. Bd2 Nc6 19. Bc3 Qd6 20. Bh7+ Kh8 21. Be4 Nd4 22. Qd2 Rb8 $17) 8...
Be7 9. exd6 cxd6 10. c4 (10. Nxg5 hxg5 11. Bxh5 Kf8 12. Bf3 (12. h3 d5 $17)
12... Nc6 13. c3 d5 $17) 10... Bf6 (10... Ng7 $5 11. Bd3 (11. Nc3 O-O 12. Nd5
Re8 13. Bd2 Bf8 $17) 11... O-O 12. Nc3 Bf6 $17) 11. Nc3 O-O {[#] Black's king
is safe and warm. Now, White has to decide whether he wants to recuperate the
material.} 12. Nxg5 $2 {Let's make this greedy move the main line, as it
nicely demonstrates the potential of Black's kingside majority.} (12. Kh1 Ng7
13. Nd5 Be6 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. d5 Bf5 16. Qd4 (16. Bd2 $2 Nd7 17. Bc3 Qg6 18.
Qd4 a5 19. Bf1 Nc5 $19) 16... Nd7 17. b4 Qxd4 18. Nxd4 Be4 19. Bb2 a6 20. Kg1
Rfe8 $17 21. g3 Ne5 22. gxf4 gxf4 $17 23. Rf1 $2 Rac8 24. Rac1 $2 Bd3 $19)
12... hxg5 13. Bxh5 Nc6 14. d5 Ne5 15. Ne4 Bf5 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Be2 Kg7 $19 {
[#] Despite having reestablished material equilibrium and owning the bishop
pair White is dead lost. His weak pawn c4 and, more importantly, his fragile
king's position will be his downfall.} 18. Bf1 (18. a4 Rac8 19. Bd2 Rh8 20. Ra3
(20. h3 Bxh3 21. gxh3 Rxh3 $19) 20... Nxc4 21. Bxc4 (21. Bc3 Ne5 $19) 21...
Qd4+ 22. Kh1 (22. Be3 Qxd1 23. Rxd1 fxe3 $19) 22... Rxh2+ 23. Kxh2 Rh8+ 24. Rh3
Bxh3 $19) 18... Rh8 19. a4 (19. h3 Rh4 20. Bd2 Rah8 21. Bc3 g4 22. Rxe5 dxe5
23. Qe1 Qb6+ 24. Kh1 f6 $19) 19... Rxh2 $1 (19... Rac8 $19 {is a plan b for
the faint of heart.}) 20. Kxh2 Rh8+ 21. Kg1 Qh6 22. Ra3 Qh1+ 23. Kf2 Qh4+ 24.
Kg1 f6 {[%cal Re5g4,Rf4f3] [#]} 25. Be2 (25. Re2 Qh1+ 26. Kf2 Ng4+ 27. Ke1
Qxf1+ $1 28. Kd2 Qxd1+ 29. Kxd1 Ne5 $19) 25... f3 26. Bxf3 g4 27. Rxe5 dxe5 28.
Bd2 g3 29. Kf1 Qxc4+ 30. Kg1 Qh4 31. Kf1 e4 $19 *