ArcaMax

The Albin Counter Gambit to the Queen’s Gambit usually signals a wild and wooly fight. This game is no exception. Both players start out well. Then their move choices get interesting and even critical: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Be6 6.a3 Nge7 7.g3 Qd7 8.Bg2 Ng6 9.Qc2 0–0–0 10.b4 Ncxe5 11.0–0 d3?! 12.exd3 Nxd3? 13.Bb2 Bh3 ...

Today is a real lesson game. There are two big lessons courtesy of the Evans Gambit. The first one is the devastating effect of a Ba3 move that stops Black from castling. The second one is the use of using center pawns to open lines to expose the opponent’s king. This is one of the reasons the Evans is still very popular in amateur play. ...

The Scandinavian Defense is often misplayed by amateurs. This game is one example: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bf4 e6 7.h3 Bxf3 (Moving the bishop back to f5 or h5 just gets g4 as a reply. For example, 7...Bh5 8.g4 Bg6 9.h4 Nd7 10.h5 Be4 11.Bd2 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 h6 and White gets the exchange anyhow, but with 4 extra moves and ...

This game is a fine lesson in why players castle before they attack. Black thought he would cower White with his g5 pawn attack on the kingside. If you were White, how would you show Black why it wasn’t such a good idea. The game started 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Be2 Be7 6.0–0 h6 7.b3 c6 8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Qd2 g5 10.Rfd1 Nf8 11.dxe5 ...

One careless move in the opening can sometimes lead to disaster. This game is an object lesson on what not to do. From Sczepaniak-Michel, Berlin 1939—It starts out 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3?? cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 6.Nf3 d4 7.Nb1 Nc6 8.g3 e4 9.Nh4 g5 10.Ng2 Ng4 11.h3 Nge5 12.b3 Bf5 13.a4 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Qd6 15.a5 and now it’s time for you to ...