It was all over pretty quickly tonight. My opponent hung his knight out to dry on move 7 and resigned. Still, I have a little bit of homework to do regarding the opening. I played Black, responding to 1.d4 with the Leningrad Dutch.
1.d4 f5 2.e4 I’m not familiar with this line. I think I’ve seen it only once before, in a blitz game. Igor told me afterward that this is called the Staunton Gambit. So I need to look this up. It’s covered briefly in Kindermann’s book on the Leningrad Dutch.
Kindermann quotes Christiansen and Silman as saying: “Black plays the Dutch, in order to win. And should White be so kind as to throw in a pawn, Black should accept it, repressing as he may a smile of satisfaction, and then sweep White off the board.” Funny.
2…fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5
I thought for a while here about responding with 4… d5, but I didn’t really like the position much after 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxd5. Instead I played 4… d6 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Nxe4
I paused for a while here and decided that 6… Qe7 looks good for Black. At a minimum, I can force a queen exchange into an endgame where I have the advantage of the two bishops. I was happy. But then 7.Be2?? Qxe4 and White resigned.
A short night at the club!
2 Comments
Well, that wouldn’t have happened if we actually played!
1. I don’t play 1. d4
2. I would have lasted until at least move 8!
-Matt
I drew against Curdo once playing 1.d4 against his dutch. But I can’t rest on those laurels anymore… my game has since taken a serious turn for the worst.
Like Matt, I now play 1.e4 but instead of blundering at move 8, I would drag you out into a long night …then after move 55 (at about 11 PM) I would play a howler that would grant you the deserved point.