Blackmar Diemer Gambit

What a disappointment

2025-11-08T10:48:00.000+01:00

yesterday evening I played an interesting Blackmar Diemer against a young, talented player. He firecly took the gambit pawn, only to accept the second in the Hara Kiri attack. Needless to say I got a winning combination, but failed to discover it - so I lost :-(

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.g4

The Hara Kiri attack - the main alternative is the quieter 8.Be3

8...Qxd4

Wow, I never had anyone take that second pawn in a normal time game

9.Be3 Qe5 10.0-0-0 e6 11.g5 ( diagram )

I felt really proud being able to find this move. White sghould win now - but it aint easy ( as time will tell )

11...Nd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 ( diagram )

White now has a winning combination - can you find it ? I couldnt :-(

The winning line is 13.Bf4 Qe4 14.Qxe4 dxe4 15.Bxb8 !! Rxb8 16.Bb5+ Ke7 17.Rd7+ winning easily. But guess this is extremely complicated to see over the board.

Instead, I played 13.Bb5+ Nc6 14.Rhe1 Qc7 15.Rxd5 (diagram)

15...Be7 16.Bf4 Qc8 17.Rd4 0-0 18.Rc4 Qd8 19.Rd1 Qa5 ( diagram )

Despite the multiple black queen moves, the attacker has completely lost the initiative. Also, the check on g5 is looming on the horizon.

20.Qb3

Missing out completely - tired after a long day's work, disappointed with the position, and with the clock ticking away, I gave it away. The remainder of the game was handled nicely by my young opponent.

20...Rad8 21.Bd2 Rxd2 0-1

What a disappointment.

Making mistakes when under attack

2025-10-18T11:07:00.005+02:00

People do make mistakes when under attack - guess it is one of the fundamental laws of chess. For example, the game I played yesterday evening. I threw in a knight on f7 and my opponent fell victim to this universal law.

After the game, we chitchatted and he voiced his frustration at me getting away so often with bad sacrifices - so I had to explain him that chess is also a game of psychology - a woodpusher always has a hard time switching from safe to wild mode, whilst the berserker thrives in the chaos.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 e3 5.Bxe3 e6 6.Ne4

Setting up some difficulties from the very start as 6...Nxe4 7.fxe3 Qh4+ seems like a white disaster, but it isn;t

6...Be7 7.Bd3 b6 8.Qe2 Bb7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.g4 (diagram)

10...h5 11.gxh5 Nxh5 12.Nh3 Playing a move like this really makes my day :-)

12...Ndf6 13.Rhg1 Qd7 14.Nhg5 Nd5 15.Nxf7 (diagram)

Wow, what a blow - and what a mistake. Maybe I was hoping that the fundamental laws of chess still apply ?

15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Bxg5 17.Rxg5 Nhf4
Certain to exchange a few pieces and stay with the extra piece. Strange what an extra piece can do to a woodpusher.

18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Rxg7+ (diagram)

A second blow to the defender - well it is sort of the only move I had at this point - but it brought my woodpusher opponent back to reality. The game soon ended in a draw after 19...Kxg7 20.Qe5+ Kf7 21.Qxf4 Ke7 22.Qg5+ Kd6 draw agreed.

Bottomline - when in doubt, go for the attack - the laws of chess are always with you.

A simple theme to move the king to f2 in the Vienna

2025-10-04T09:01:00.001+02:00

Managed a nice win last weekend with a simple theme, which I have been able to repeat three times now in similar positions. The theme consists of stepping to f2 after the bishop check on b4 in the Vienna

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 Bf5 5.g4 Bg6 6.g5 Nd5 7.Nxe4 e6 8.c4 Nb6 9.Be3 Bb4+ 10.Kf2

A surprising move, which should offguard many. STockfish evaluates as equal, but white surely has the surprise element on his side

The point of the move is that white hopes to capture the bishop after the pawn push c5 and a3, as illustrated in this game

10...Bxe4 11.fxe4 h6 12.c5

There it is, winning a piece with a simple theme. Black sees the mess he is in and tries to generate some counterplay

12...hxg5 13.cxb6 Qf6+ 14.Qf3 Qg6 15.Rc1

The remainer of the game looks like a slaughter

Remember this theme - it might come in handy

New option in the Ziegler.

2025-09-10T14:46:00.001+02:00

I discovered a new option in the Ziegler - normally, white plays g4 and 0-0 in the Ziegler. However, this turns out to be quite bad as black quickly gets the better play.

A new idea is to refrain from castling - it seems this idea gives white a veru playable game in the Ziegler. Consider the below after 5...c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.g4

Blacks normal reply is 8...Bg6 ( 8...Nfd7 is much better, but impossible to find behind the board ) followed by yet another aggresive pawn move 9.h4. Black must play 9...Bb4 to open up the e4 square for his bishop. White only now throws in 10.0-0, with the below position

This complicated position is probably equal, but yields major complications after 10...Bxc2 11.Nxf7

Seems like a great alternative in the O'Kelly :-)

New ideas in the Euwe

2024-10-29T11:01:00.002+01:00

hello Blackmar Diemer fanatics.

Resuming my posts here after a long pause :-(

Working now with the latest Stockfish 17 engine which brings clarity in so many old lines. Today I am starting off with a basic position in the Euwe after 6...Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 (diagram)

I used to consider the old 8.0-0 as the strongest move ( cfr my earlier post ), but now, Stockfish 17 immediately indicates that 8.Qe2 is much stronger.\, followed by castling queenside.

Likewise, I automatically replied 8.0-0 against the main line 7...0-0, only to learn today that 8.Qe2 ( diagram) is much stronger.

The Zilbermints line after 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.0-0 is immediately refuted after 8...Nxd4 9.Kh1 c5 and Stockfish thinks white has less than nothing. Instead, the simple 8.a3 0-0 9.Qd2 is suggested with equal game.

For another annoying line 6.Bg5 Nc6, i suggested 7.Bb5 but the silicon monster clearly prefers 7.Qd2

Seems like we have to review lots of new theory here :-(

What a great day

2017-07-01T20:25:00.001+02:00

hello all, long time no see 😧

I got a new PC which seems to be a bit stronger than my previous - maybe this will help to develop Blackmar Diemer theory further...

In any case, I was looking at a strong black line in the Euwe defense : 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 c5 (diagram)

I have always struggled with this move, just because it is so simple and thematic in the French defense. And also because I never found a good white continuation. Scheerer suggests 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Kh1 which is obvioulsy not bad for white. But I never found a good white continuation after b;lack's most challenging line 9.dxc5 h6 .

So today, with the help of my new silicon assistant, I got to 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Ne4 (diagram)

Black try it safely and play 11...Be7, but gets no advantage after 12.Kh1, removing the white king from any future annoying checks.

Also, 11...Bd4+12.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 13.Kh1 brings nothing aftre 13...f5 14.c3 Qd5 15.Bc4 and white will soon regain the pawn.

Which leaves 11...Bxb2 12.Rb1 (diagram) when black makes an awfull lot of moves with the blackcolored bishop.

a/ 12...Be5 13.Nxe5 Qd4+ 14.Kh1 Qxe5 15.Nd6 =+ ( Black cant capture the c5 pawn as this would result in a forced draw - try it yourself )

b/ 12...Bd4+ 13.Kh1 doesnt bring black anything more than line c

c/ 12...Bf6 13.Bb5 =+ and white can damage the black pawn structure if black exchanges queens

d/ 12...Ba3 13.Rb3 += brings the black rook into the action

So, it seems that white has a decent answer to the 8...c5 9.dxc5 h6 line. True, it doesnt bring equality, but it sure is no refutation as I believed before.

A tough nut to crack

2017-03-20T16:11:00.001+01:00

Just looking at "Long Bogo" Bogoljubow position with my new Stockfish 8 toy boy 👰 : 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf4 g6 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.Qd2 0-0 8.0-0-0 Bf5 (diagram)

I always believed 9.h3 was the key move here, but now I am not so sure anymore since white cannot avoid black swapping some pieces ; 9.h3 Ne4!! 10.Nxe4 Bxe5

Stockfish 8 now gives 11.Ng5 (diagram) as best and follows up 11...Bd5 (diagram)

I think everyone will agree with me that this is not a good position for the attacker - white has nothing for the pawn, maybe some distant development advantage, but certainly not worth a pawn. Stockfish suggests 12.Be3 as best now, which is certainly not a killer move 😞

Going back one move, at depth 26/46, my silicon assistant finds nothing better. Also at move 10, there is nothing better, so any improvement must come at move 9, when white played 9.h3.

The alternative is 9.Bh6 (diagram) which has the benefit of not exchanging any pieces needlessly as 9...Bxh6 10.Qxh6 Ng4 11.Qd2 is equal.

What did we learn today ? 8...Bf5 9.Bh6 is to be preferred over 8...Bf5 9.h3 in the Long Bogo. We will look at possible black moves in my next post.

Major improvement in GiveAway Declined variation

2017-03-19T08:46:00.004+01:00

Just loaded Stockfish 8 and I have to admit, results are spectacular.

I was still glancing through the positions resulting after the GiveAway variation 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.g4 Bg6 when Stockfish 8 quickly found an improvement to 8.h4 and 8.g5, namely 8.Qe2 (diagram)

The order of the moves is key here - white delays h5 or g5 and plays first a waiting move. Only when black commits to a move, white then moves its kingside pawns.

Let's look at a few lines.

A. 8...e6 9.h4
...A1. 9...h6 10.Ne5 (+)
...A2. 9...b5 10.Bb3 (=)
...A3. 9...h5 10.Ne5 (+)
...A4. 9...Bb4 10.h5 (=)
...A5. 9...Nxg4 10.Bg5 (diagram)

......A5a. 10...Be7 11.0-0-0 (=)
......A5b. 10...f6 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5c. 10...Qc7 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Qxe6+ (+=)
......A5d. 10...Qb6 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5e. 10...Qa5 11.Bxe6 (++)
......A5f. 10...Qd7 11.0-0-0 (++)
......A5g. 10...Qd6 11.0-0-0 (+)

B. 8...b5 9.Bb3
...B1. 9...a5 10.a3 (=)
...B2. 9...b4 10.Na4 (=)
...B3. 9...e6 10.h4 (+=)
...B4. 9...Nbd7 10.h4 (+=)

C. 8...Nxg4 9.Rg1 (+=)

D. 8...Nbd7 9.g5
...D1. 9...b5 10.Bb3 (=)
...D2. 9...Nh5 10.Rf1 (=)
...D3. 9...Nd5 10.0-0 (=+)
...D4. 9...Ng8 10.Bf4 (+)
...D5. 9...Ng4 10.h3 (++)

So it seems Stockfish 8 is much stronger then its previous version - it unearthed a simple improved to the GiveAway Declined variation in a matter of minutes.

Now fix the GiveAway Accepted !!!

Dispair in the GiveAway variation

2017-03-18T13:19:00.000+01:00

hello Blackmar Diemer fans,

Yesterday evening I played a few blitz games in my local chess club, several of them were based on the Ziegler/O'Kelly defense

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 when I venture the surprising 7.g4 !!
Because of obvious reasons, I called this the GiveAway variation.

Black should of course accept the gift and capture 7...Nxg4, but yesterday evening, most of my opponents choose to play it carefully with 7...Bg6

What can now complicate things again with yet another sacrifice 8.h4!! Nxg4 9.Ng5 (diagram)

Black has two moves 9...h5 and 9...Nh6

After the seemingly robust 9...Nh6, white gets great attacking chances with 10.Qe2 (diagram)

A. 10...Qxd4 11.Be3 Qg4 12.Qxg4 Nxg4 13.h5 (=)
B. 10...Qc7 11.Be3 (=)
C. 10...e6 11.d5 (=)
D. 10...b5 11.Bb3 (=)
E. 10...Nd7 11.Bf4 (=)

So the robust 9...Nh6 does not offer any advantages, let's look at the more aggressive 9...h5 10.Bf4 (diagram)

White is risking all here and black can remian on top in various ways
F. 10...b5 11.Bb3 e6 12.Qe2 Bb4 13.Bxe6 (=+)
G. 10...e6 11.Qe2 Bb4 12.0-0-0 0-0 13.Bd3 (=+)
H. 10...Nd7 11.Qe2 Nb6 12.Bb3 (=+)

So it seems the ultra aggressive 8.h4 is not so good if black decline sthe pawn in the GiveAway variation. The problem is that 8.g5 might not offer better prospects 😓 aftre 8.g5 Nd5 (diagram)

Castling on both sides

2017-03-04T10:17:00.001+01:00

hi Blackmar Diemer fans !

Today I'd like to share a game when both players rushed out to attack the enemy kings - bust as usual, the Blackmar Diemer side prevails.

Guido De Bouver - NN

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.Nc3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6
The Euwe defense

6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 c5
One of the better defensive moves. I had played many times against this opponent, so I realized he had prepared this line. I needed to get something differently.

8.Qe2
New, but bad :-(

8...0-0 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 (diagram)

10.h4 a6 11.h5 h6 12.Bd2 b5 13.g4 c4 (diagram)

The pawn storm on both side of the board has appeared

14.Be4 Rb8 15.g5 hxg5 16.Rdg1 b4 (diagram)

It seems like black's pawn storm has more stamina ?!
But now comes the killer move ( I thought 1 hr to find and confirm it )

17.Bxg5 !! bxc3 18.Bh6
Here my opponent made a crucial mistake in this complicated position

18...Rxb2
Black thinks to see the victory - the idea of Rb1+ Kxb1 Qb6+ Kc1 Qb2+ Kd1 Qb1 is appealing

19.Qg2 (diagram)
Opening an escape field on d2 aftre black's mate attack
And victory was soon mine !!!

Aftrethoughts,
After 7...c5, white should play the simple 8.dxc5 (diagram) and obtain equality.

A New Morning

2016-09-18T10:56:00.002+02:00

Looking at the date of my latest post - it is really time to post again. So, with the Bob Dylan album "New Morning" from 1970 playing in the background, I choose to write again on a game I played last weekend.

Guido De Bouver - NN
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 e6
A superdefensive Caro Kan French !

7.Bg5 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe1 Nbd7 10.Rd1
I knew this was not the best move, but I realised my opponent ( who choose not to be named ) has prepared against the Blackmar Diemer, so I wanted to deviate from the normal paths.

10....Nb6 11.Bd3 Nbd5 12.Qh4 (diagram)

Let's have a closer look at the position. White has wasted 2 moves to get to the ideal Euwe defense position ( Bc4 and Rd1 ), whilst black has played the suboptimal c6. Is this still playable for white ?

12...g6
The only move for black

13.Ne5
Seems like a natural move, but 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.c4 is much stronger

13...Nh5
Again the only move (diagram)

14.Ne4
Probably not the bets move, but both Bxe7 and Bxg6 lead to a difficult endgame ahead for white

14...f6 15.Nxf6 (diagram)

Here black played 15...Ndxf6, which was punished by the unexpected 16.Nxg6 and I won quickly.

Seems like black's only move an advantage is 15...Rxf6 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Qe4 with black having two white pieces for the rook.

Bottomline : dont deviate from the established path by wasting time with silly moves like 10.Rd1. But even then, black's path to success is far from easy.

Doesn't that sound like a new morning ?

Start Trek continued

2016-04-27T11:32:00.000+02:00

Hope you enjoyed the "Star Trek" idea from last post. Let's look at another line today - for the fun of it !

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.Nxf7 ?? Kxf7 9.0-0 Bg6 10.Qe2 (diagram)

Alternatives to 10.Qe2 are 10.Qg4, 10.Bf4 and 10.Re1 - maybe they provide white with a better attack - check it out yourself.

10...Qxd4+ 11.Kh1 Qd7 12.Bg5 (diagram)
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating" - the only way for black to maintain a clear lead is by taking another pawn and thus opening even more lines - thus risking even more.

Black now has two options to moves to maintain his lead : 12...Na6 and 12...b5.

Let's look at the first : 12...Na6 ( a6 is obviously not the target for the horseman as it wants to defend the e6 pawn from the relatively safe c7 square ) 13.Rad1 Qe7 14.Ne4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Nac7 (diagram)

I have to admit, I am here a bit without ideas to continue the attack. White's pieces are all over the board, but black defends everything - and has an extra piece and pawn !!

Any imporvements ??

The Star Trek attack.

2016-04-16T20:39:00.003+02:00

Some 15 years ago, when I started to get interested in the Blackmar Diemer, I was often faced with the annoying O'Kelly defense. Over time, I learned to deal with it, but at the time, it was a defense that made me tremble with fear.

So I started to investigate stange lines, to make the attack playable - that's how I come to discover the Start Trek attack : "To boldly go were no man has gone before"... I remember the feedback from a fellow BDG author : "That 's quite optimistic ?!"

Anyway, here is the Star Trek attack : 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.Nxf7 ?? Kxf7 9.0-0

Let's look at black's most natural response : 9...Ke8 10.Kh1 (diagram)
I often need this move, so why not play it immediately - it allows me to wait for black's move and respond accordingly.

Let's look at one of black's most normal moves : 10...Nbd7 11.Qe2 (diagram)

Black has many moves at his disposal, let's see what happens if he tries to defend the pawn with 11...Qe7 12.Bg5 (diagram)

Black can now try to run in his king to safety, eg 12...Kd8 13.Rae1 Kc7 14.Bf4+ Kc8 15.h3 and with has compensation for the piece

From the starting position above, the defender could try to initiate a pawn storm on the white king : 12...h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 h5 15.Rae1 h4 16.Bd6 with a difficult position

Lastly, the normal line 12...Nb6 13.Bb3 Nbd5 brings equal play after 14.Bxd5

So it sure seems the Star Trek attack might be worth a closer look !

O'Kelly is OK

2016-03-12T08:03:00.000+01:00

Some say that the O'Kelly is a great defense - that might be true.

However, I say, the O'Kelly line is a great attack - the game I played yesterday evening proves so.

Guido De Bouver - Bram Verschoren
Mechelen, 2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.Nc3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.g4 !!

As suggested in a famous Chesscafe article.

7...Nxg4 8.Nh4 g6 9.h3 Nf6 10.Bg5 e6 ?

Better would have been 10...Ne4. But in the game, I now missed the equalizing move : 11.d5 !!

11.Qe2 Be7 12.0-0-0 Nd5

With two pawns up, black exchanges a few pieces. Cant be bad...

13.Bxe7 Nxc3 14.Qe5.

Black now makes a horrible mistake. Simply 14...Kxe7 would have left me with 15.bxc3 Nd7 and black won a very important tempo as compared to the actual game.

14...Nax2+ 15.Bxa2 Ke7

Now I have a crucial extra move for the pawn, which allows me to open up the centre. However, when returning home, my silicon assistant says 16.Nxf5 gxf5 17.Rhe1 is actually a lot better for white.

16.d5 cxd5 17.Nxf5 gxf5 18.Rhe1

18...Qa5 19.Rxd5

Here my opponent took the piece on a2 and suggested a draw. Myself, I had a terrible headache and did not want to look any further and agreed to the draw, as we both saw 19...Qxa2 20.Qd6+ Kf6 21.Qe5+ with a perpetual check.

However, the position allows for a mate in 6, can you find it ?

19...Qxa2 20.Qd6+ Kf6 21.Rxf5+ !!

Ouch !! that hurts.

21...Kxf5 22.Qe5+ Kg6 23.Rg1 Kh6 24.Qg5 mate.

Pity I did not see that finish... But I certainly know now that the O'Kelly defense is actually a great attack.

A nice Jerome gambit

2015-12-06T13:05:00.000+01:00

Friday evening, as a surprise act, I played a nice little Jerome gambit in our local chess club. My opponent, who had prepared himself for a firece BlackmarDiemer, could not believe his eyes.

Guido De Bouver - Verstappen
Mechelen, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ (diagram)
the starting point of the Jerome gambit

6...Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0 Rf8 11.d4 b6 12.f4 (diagram)
Jerome pawns on the move !

12...Bb7 13.Nc3 Qe7 14.f5 Nh8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.b3 Nf7 19.Bb2 (diagram)
Draw agreed.

A very complicated position - white has two strong pawns for the piece and has the safer king. If black however can exchange a few pieces, black should have the better endgame.

An interesting Lemberger

2015-10-31T11:02:00.001+01:00

First of all, let me apologise for not posting so long - sometimes other things n life such as work get priority. I know, it is a false excuse for not playing chess , but still...

Yesterday evening I started a knockout tournament where the lower rated player advances to the next round in case of a draw. I was lucky twice - I am the lower rated player and I was playing white.

My opponent choose the Lemberger defense, but I got a crushing attack.

Guido De Bouver - Jan Jelgrims.
Mechelen 2015
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5
the Lemberger. Good for balck, but certainly no refutation.

4.Nxe4 Qxd4 5.Bd3 (diagram)

5...f5 is the most crushing move by black here, also suggested by Diemer.

5...Nc6 6.Nf3 Qb4+ 7.c3 Qe7 8.0-0 f5 (diagram)
Better late than never, as the saying goes.

9.Ng3 g6
My opponent aims to defense his centre from behind with a bishop on g7.
However, my position is great position and I should have difficulties in finding a bad move.

10.Qb3
I found it !!

10...Bd7
Luckily, my opponent also misses the chance to equalize.

11.Bg5
A key move. I open up the 1st rank for my rooks and bring the knight to f6 - limiting the scope of the future bishop on g7.

11....Qc5 12.Be3 Qe7 13.Bg5 Nf6
I was happy to repeat moves as I would advance into the next round after a draw.
Now, with the first rank cleared for my rooks, I decided it was time for a sacrifice

14.Nxe5 (diagram)

14...Nxe5 15.Qxb7 Bc6
Both 15...Rc8 and 15...Rd8 would have been a bit better

16.Bb5 Bxb5 17.Qxa8+ Kf7 18.Bxf6
I was under the impression I had a better position, but since a draw was suffcicent, I wanted to exchange a few pieces. Unfortunately, this exchange gives black the better play.

18...Kxf6 19.Rfe1 (diagram)

Black now misses a simple move to lock my queen away : 19...c6 would have been quite effecitive !

19...Qc5 20.Qd8+ Kg7 21.Qd2 bd6 22.b4 Qc6 23.Qd4 (diagram)

Draw agreed here. Black cant avoid exchanging queens after which I will be a pawn up - hopeless situation for black as he needs to win to advance.

A potential line could be :
23...Qb6 24.Rxe5 Qxd4 25.cxd4 Bxe5 26.dxe5 and white is a pawn up.

So it is clear that the Lemberger is not the ultimate refutation against the Blackmar Diemer as the resulting positions are very complicated ( maybe more complicated than the main lines ).

Grandmaster Repertoire by Boris Avrukh

2015-09-13T18:29:00.003+02:00

today i had the opportunity to glance through "Grandmaster Repertoire 11: Beating 1.D4 Sidelines" by the famous GM Boris Avrikh. I was delighted to see some great analysis on the Blackmar Diemer gambit. It is so good to see that such a recognized chess player takes the time to look at this so called inferior opening. The bottomline of his analysis is that Black is better when playing the corretc lines. But he is quick so say that the opening complications are not to be underestimated. Guess we already knew that :-)

In any case, GM Avrukh suggests the trusted O'Kelly defense 5...c6 and comes up with some in depth analysis. I havent had to opportunity to go through all of it, but it sure seems he points out some of the weak spots in white's armory.

Thnaks Boris for giving our opening this much prime time coverage !!!

Annoying defenses should be forbidden.

2015-09-11T13:41:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening, I was confronted with an annoying defense, I was confident I got it right, but found myself without any advantage.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Bb4
Not the strongest black continuation in the Euwe

7.Bd3 h6 (diagram)

The analogy with the lines after 6...h6 forced me to exchange on f6 without any thought, as white gets a great attack on the f column.

8.Bdf6 Qxf6 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3
With a pawn ahead, black decides to exchange another piece.

10...0-0 (diagram)
"Life can be simple, even when faced with the complicated Blackmar Diemer gambit"... That's sort of blakc's thinking here. Another one could be "Show me what you have for the pawn".

11.Ne5 Qe7 (diagram)

I had been playing on automatic up till this point, under the impression that I would have a simple game. However, now I realised that things aren't that simple as I believed... I played 12.Qg4 in the above position and lost in the resulting endgame.

With silicon assistance, it seems 12.Qe2 is best here.

a/ 12...Nd7 13.Rf3 Nxe5 14.dxe5 (+=)

b/ 12...Nc6 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Rf5!!! (+=)

c/ 12...Bd7 13.Qg4!!!! (++)

So it seems that every annoying defense has some great refutation - but you have to find it !!

Reminder on the Pietrowsky lines

2015-08-16T11:53:00.001+02:00

In 2011, I covered the Pietrowsky lines and concluded that 5...Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 was not simple to deal with. White has to be carefull in order not to overextend.

The main line is 5...Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.0-0 e6 8.d5 (diagram)

White is ahead in development at the expense of a pawn. The easiest way for black is to exchange a few pieces :

8...Nb4 !!
Forces the exchnage of the light coloured bishop, doesnt it ?

9.dxe6 (diagram)

9...Bxb5 10.Nxb5 Qxd1 11.Rxd1 (diagram)

Mission Exchanging is completed ! But does black have an advanatge ? Absolutely not, since black still needs a move to recapture the pawn on e6, but this is not possible since c7 is under attack.

So we can safely conclude that the Pietrowsky line does not offer any advantage for the defender, proviuded white plays is quitely - a task not easy for the Blackmar Diemer gambiteer.

Mea Culpa

2015-08-11T17:17:00.002+02:00

It seems my last post on the Queen's Indian Euwe contained a mistake as pointed out by Maximilien from France.

I indicated that white gets a confortable play after 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Qe1 Bb7 10.Qh4 h5 (diagram) 11.Bxf6

White is indeed better after 11...Bxf6 12.Qxh5 g6 13.Bxg6 fxg6 14.Qxg6+ Kh8 15.d5 (diagram)

a/ 15...exd5 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Qg4+ Kh8 18.Nh4 (++)

b/ 15...Bxd5 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Qg4+ Bg7 18.Ng5 (++)

c/ 15...Qe8 16.Qh6+ Kg8 17.Ng5 (++)

d/ 15...Qe7 16.Ng5 (=)

So is seems i missed black's best continuation 15..Qe7 and 11.Rad1 is the only move that gives white an advantage.

Queen's Indian Euwe

2015-07-30T19:54:00.001+02:00

when playing blitz games, I get lately a lot of Euwe defenses where black fianchettos his queens bishop - a horrible strategy.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Qe1 Bb7 10.Qh4 (diagram)

Many of my blitz opponents play these moves rather quickly, as if the Blackmar Diemer behaves like a normal opening...

In the above postion, black is hopelessly lost, eg 10...Nbd7 11.Bxh7+ (++) or 10...h6 11.Bxh6 (++)

Black's best ( if this word can still be used in this position ) might be to remove the target on h7 :

10...h5 ( diagram)

White's best reply here is 11.Rad1, but also an inferior move can bring white victory :

11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qxh5 g6 13.Bxg6 fxg6 14.Qxg6+ Kh8 15.d5 (diagram)

White opens up many lines and has by far the most promising game.

The defender becomes the attacker.

2015-06-28T12:08:00.000+02:00

The immediate 7.g4 is a rude answer to black's trustowrthy O'Kelly defense. But is it correct ? Probably not, but that wont keep me from winning with it.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5
The O'kelly, which can lead to the Ziegler defense, but white has other plans.

7.g4 !!! (diagram)

7...Nxg4 8.Nh4 g6 9.Nxf5 gxf5 10.h3 Nf6 11.Bg5 e6 12.d5
A key move for the attacker

12...cxd5 13.Bxd5 (diagram)

13...Nbd7 14.Bxb7 Rb8
probably not the best move. 14...Be7 15.Qf3 Rb8 16.Rd1 would give black a small advantage, but it very unlikely any defender would have been able to get this far without mistakes.

15.Bc6 Qb6 (diagram)
best

let's look at the situation : white is a pawn down and his king is defenseless. Black on the other hand has whaethered the storm and is now starting to deploy his forces. So it seems white can safely resign here, isnt it ?

16.Qf3 Be7 17.Rd1 Rd8 18.Ke2

White is desperately trying to get some space as to centralize his pieces

18...h6 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Rxd7 Rxd7 21.Rd1 0-0 22.Rxd7 23.Qxb2 Kd2

White is a piece ahead for two pawns, but it is black who has the safer king and the king. White may be able to survive but it wont be easy. But then again, chances are low that black will be able to get this far against a well prepared white berserker.

An interesting novelty

2015-06-12T20:13:00.001+02:00

Today I faced an interesting novelty, something I never encountered before in my 15-year Blackmar_Diemer experience ( ok, maybe I forgot a few less memorable games, but it wont be a many ). In any case, black tried to exchange a few pieces but quickly lost the way in the labyrith of moves.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 Ng4 (diagram)

This is the novelty, black tries to exchange a few pieces as to use his pawn majority in the endgame.

9.Ne4
My silicon assistant indicate sthat both 9.Bxe7 and 9.Qd2 might be slightly better, but 9Ne4 is good enough.

9...Bxg5 10.Nfxg5
I gave this a 30 minutes thought, but I could not find a good move after 10.Nexg5 h6. I was hoping somehow that black would try 10...Ne3 ??, but I guess the white refutation 11.Qh5 was too obvious.

10...Qxd4+ (diagram)
And now I played a great move... can you find it ?

11.Nf2
Creating three different threats :
> the attack of h7
> the knight on g4
> the queen is undefended after Bxh7+
My opponent noticed the chances were turning and hoose the only reasonable defense

11...f5 12.Bxf5 Qxd1 13.Bxh7+ Kh8 (diagram)

Here I choose 14.Raxd1, resulting in an equal game, but 14.Nxd1 would have been better after 14...Rxf1 15.Kxf1 Nxh2+ 16.Ke2 Ng4 17.Ne3 (diagram) with nasty threats along the h file.

Black has no other option than 17...Nf6 18.Bg6 and white is leading the dance, despite being a pawn down.

One too many mistakes

2015-06-06T19:52:00.000+02:00

I got the name of this post from the Dylan song "One too many mornings" from his "The Times They Are a-Changin'" album in 1964. I wonder if Diemer ever heard of Bob Dylan and what he thought of this new kind of music.

In any case, yesrreday evening I was humiliated in a speed game in my local chess club - too many mistakes in a mere 16 moves costs me dearly.

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.g4 Nd5 (diagram)

The correct move here is 9.Bd3, with a nice white lead. However, without thinking at all, I played the inferior 9.Bc4 ( mistake #1 ).

9.Bc4 e6 10.Rf1 f6
Despite my first mistake, white still has the edge.

11.Bd2
Not optimal, but wont classify as a mistake.

11...Bb4 12.000 Nxc3 (diagram)

I now played 13.bxc3 -bad idea. the simple 13.Bxc3 would have brought a great lead due to black's fragile pawn structure ( mistake #2 )

13.bxc3 Ba3 14.Kb1 Qb6 15.Bb3 a5 (diagram)

After a (short) thought, I moved 16.d5?? now, as I was planning for Be3 on the next move, chasing away the queen and thus saving my bishop from entrapment. However, the simple c5 will block the bishop.... I should have played 16.g5 here, opening many lines with favourable complications.

I wont give the remainder of the game after my third horrible mistake 16.d5 - there might be children reading this blog...

Lesson learned - take your time to think and play the best moves, even when playing at a speedy tempo. Otherwise, you risk being slaughtered after three mistakes in only 16 moves.

Further madness

2015-05-16T21:12:00.003+02:00

The yearly speed championship started yesterday evening in my local chessclub - each player is alloted 25 minutes of time with a 10 seconds move increment. Ideal for a Blackmar Diemer. But unfortunately, my first opponent refrained from playing d5, so I had to revert to some other madness.

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6
What player is so unreasonable as to refuse to enter the Blackmar Diemer ? He should be punished immediately with ...

3.g4
That got him thinking !

3...Bg7 4.h4 (diagram)
You cant say I am not consistent in my moves :-)

4...d6 5.h5 gxh5 6.g5

6...Nfd7
The other option is 6...Nd5 7.e4 Nb6 8.Ne2, which is probably better for white.

7.e4
Here my opponent choose the inferior 7...e5 and I could easily get the advantage with 8.d5.

The obvious critical line is 7...c5 and we reach the standard Paleface setup after 8.d5 (diagram)

My silicon assistant gives following line as best : 8...h6 9.gxh6 Bxh6 10.Bxh6 Rxh6 11.Qd2 with a slight advantage for white.

I cant find any games on this line in nay database, but the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.g4 certainly seem playable. Please let me know if you had any experience with this.