[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.11.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "King's Gambit"]
[Black "Shallopp Variation"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C36"]
[Annotator "Wahls"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[SourceVersionDate "2002.05.06"]
{[%evp 0,44,29,25,20,-21,-21,-21,6,-14,-10,-2,2,2,2,-24,-28,-49,-42,-49,-41,
-30,-30,-35,-37,-47,-47,-47,-47,-47,-43,-37,-13,-3,36,-24,-30,0,0,9,0,0,92,80,
76,-26,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxd5 Qxd5
7. d4 Be7 {a3)} 8. Be2 $2 {[#] This move has been played more often than 9.Bd3,
which was covered in the last post. The idea might be to prevent the d-pawn from
becoming too exposed. As it turns out, it is worse than 9.Bd3 and can be
considered refuted.} Nc6 $1 {This has only been played in 1 of 49 games and in
this one game, the follow-up was not convincing. So basically, I am presenting
a new idea.} 9. O-O (9. Bxf4 $2 {[#] Looks normal at first sight, but loses on
the spot!} g5 $1 $146 {White's Achilles' heel is his g-pawn.[%cal Rd5g2] } (9... Bf5 $2 10. O-O O-O-O {Schoeneich,M-Busemann,S Germany 1987 } 11. c3 $16 ) 10. Be5 (10. Bxc7 g4
11. Ne5 Qxg2 12. Rf1 Bh4+ $19) (10. Be3 g4 $19) 10... Rg8 11. c3 g4 12. O-O Be6
$1 $19) (9. h4 {Black's g-pawn is shown due respect, see 9.Bxf4? above.} Bg4
10. Bxf4 O-O-O 11. c3 Rhe8 {White turned his center into granite, but
castling is now a problem.} 12. Qd3 Kb8 13. Kf2 (13. O-O Bxh4 $1 $17) 13... h6
14. Rae1 g5 15. hxg5 hxg5 16. Bg3 f5 $17 {Black is close to winning.}) (9. c3
g5 10. O-O O-O {transposes to the main line.}) (9. c4 Qd6 10. d5 (10. c5 Qf6
11. d5 Ne5 12. Qa4+ Nd7 13. c6 bxc6 14. dxc6 Nb6 15. Qxf4 O-O 16. Qxf6 $2 (16.
O-O Qxc6 $17) 16... Bxf6 17. Kf2 Be6 $19 {White will lose a pawn mid-term.}) 10... Ne5 11. O-O (11. Qd4 $2 Ng6 12. Qxg7 Bf6 13. Qh6 Bf5 14.
Qh5 Qd7 15. O-O O-O-O 16. h3 Rde8 17. Rf2 Be4 $19 {Black's piece activity is
overwhelming.}) 11... Ng6 12. Kh1 O-O 13. Bd2 Bf6 14. Bd3 Re8 $17 {with good
winning chances.}) 9... g5 {[#] Of course we protect what is ours since
White's generous donation in move 2. Apart from that, the intention is to play
10...g4, winning more material.} 10. c4 (10. c3 {White fortifies his center
and blunts some of our minor pieces for a while. That however, is not enough
if you are a full pawn down.} O-O 11. Bd3 Bf5 12. h4 {White has to do
something before Black's position is completely consolidated.} (12. g3 Bxd3 13.
Qxd3 g4 14. Nd2 f3 15. Nc4 Bd6 $19) 12... f6 13. Bxf5 Qxf5 14. Qb3+ Kh8 15.
Qxb7 {The pawn is regained and hope returns - but not for long.} Qd7 16. Qb5
Rab8 17. Qd3 g4 $1 {Black puts his majority to good use.} 18. Ne1 (18. Nh2 f3
19. gxf3 g3 20. Ng4 f5 21. Ne3 f4 $19) 18... f3 $1 {Wasn't White supposed to
attack on the kingside in this opening?} 19. gxf3 g3 20. f4 (20. Kg2 Bd6 $19 {
[%cal Gc6e7,Ge7f5]}) 20... Qh3 21. Qe2 g2 $1 (21... Rg8 22. Qg2 Qd7 $18 {
also wins.}) 22. Nxg2 Rg8 23. Rf3 Qxh4 24. Qd3 f5 25. b3 Qg4 26. Qf1 Qh5 $18 {
[%cal Gg8g6,Gb8g8]}) 10... Qd6 11. d5 Ne5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Kh1 O-O 14. Bd3 {
The last moves have been more or less forced.} Qg7 $1 15. Qh5 $6 {Preventing
15...Qh6, but running into a nice refutation.} (15. Bd2 Qh6 $1 {Preventing 16.
Qh5 and 16.g3. The opposition with White's king could yield opportunities.} 16.
Qc2 (16. Qf3 $2 Bd6 17. b4 Bd7 18. c5 Be5 19. Rae1 Rae8 $19) 16... Bd7 17. Rae1
Rae8 18. c5 Bf6 19. Be4 Be5 $17) 15... a5 $1 {[#] The
designated rook lift decides the outcome.} 16. Bd2 (16. g3 fxg3 17. Re1 Bd8 18.
Rg1 Ra6 19. Rxg3 Rh6 20. Qe2 Rh4 $19 {[%cal Gf7f5]}) 16... Ra6 17. Rae1 Rh6 18.
Bc3 Rxh5 19. Bxg7 Bb4 20. Bxf8 Kxf8 $1 {The bishop is stronger than the rook!}
(20... Bxe1 21. Rxe1 Kxf8 $17) 21. Re5 Bd6 22. Ree1 g4 $19 { [#] It is a beautiful sight, how the bishop
influences the entire board and supports the activation of the kingside
majority. The immediate threat is 23..f3, but the mid-term plan is to improve the position with b6, Bd7, Kg7-f6-g5. There is not much White can do to interfere.} *