Welcome to my chess blog! I am Filip Rachůnek, BrainKing.com game site creator, and a chess enthusiast. I created this blog to publish articles about interesting chess problems, various techniques, opening traps, and other things that caught my attention. Besides that, I am preparing a new YouTube channel to provide a chess content from my perspective.
This is mostly a test post, as I am getting familiar with this blog system. Let me start with a comprehensive analysis of one of my favorite chess games, played on BrainKing.com in 2021.
Fencer vs František Outlý, 11th April 2021. King’s Gambit Declined, Keene Defense.
The defense already appeared in a textbook from the 19th century. The author was Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, a German master and theoretician, a member of the “Berlin Pleiades” group. Raymond Keene was credited with exploring it and finding a better game for black.
1. e4 e5 2. f4 ♛h4+ 3. g3 ♛f6 (Bilguer was mainly referring to 3. … ♛e7, which is considered the main line supporting the idea of this variation – pressure on the e-file, while the g3 pawn on the king side is rather a hindrance. The game Andersson-Keene, Nice 1974 continued 4. fxe5 d6 5. exd6 ♛xe4+ 6. ♕e2 ♛xe2+ 7. ♘xe2 ♝xd6 and the opponents agreed to a draw after a few more moves. Given the highly unusual opening and the low number of moves, some annotators speculated whether it was a regular game or a pre-arranged draw in the interests of the team – the game was part of the 21st Chess Olympiad – in the England-Sweden match.)
4. fxe5 ♛xe5 5. ♗g2 (It was my first time against Keene defense, so without theoretical preparation, it took me some time to think whether it would not be more appropriate to continue with 5. ♘c3. The bishop’s lateral development eventually won, the attacked pawn is well covered, and the move looks like a logical consequence of the previous 3. g3. In addition, I retain the possibility of developing the king’s knight on e2, which leaves the f-file free.) 5. … d5 6. d4 ♛d6 7. exd5 (Due to the advance in development, opening another file looked stronger than the advance 7. e5, especially when I can capture a pawn practically for free.) 7. … ♞f6 8. c4 ♛b4+ 9. ♘d2 ♝e7 10. ♘e2 (Both knights are on the second rank, which quite unusual for me. However, this is an unusual opening and, as it turns out in a few moves, the rook attack on the f column decides the game in favor of white.) 10. … O-O 11. O-O ♝g4 12. h3 ♝xe2 13. ♕xe2 ♝d6? (Black is not standing very well, however, 13. … ♞bd7 with another 14. … ♜e8 would at least give him more effective counterplay options. Now his defense will be scattered by the exchange.)
14. ♖xf6! gxf6 15. ♗e4! (The immediate 15. ♕g4+? ♚h8 would uncomfortably undermine the attack plan, as white lacks the tempo to activate the supporting pieces and black could find a defense. For example, 16. ♕f5 ♜g8 17. ♕xf6+ ♜g7, followed by 18. … ♞d7 and moving the second rook to protect the king.) 15. … ♜e8? (Black should have first inserted 15. … h5 and after 16. ♕xh5, at least ♜e8 would not have led to the loss of the rook. But he still would not have been able to resist the attack for long.) 16. ♗xh7+ ♚xh7 (Or 17. … ♚f8 18. ♘e4 ♜e7 19. ♕g4.) 17. ♕xe8 ♚g7 18. ♘f3 ♛xc4 (White is up two pawns and has a crushing attack that would no doubt lead to a winning endgame. However, a nice bishop sacrifice can win the game in six moves.)
19. ♗h6+!! ♚xh6 (Rejecting the sacrifice would lead to the same result. 19. … ♚h7 20. ♕xf7+ ♚xh6 21. ♕xf6+ ♚h7 22. ♘g5+ ♚g8 23. ♕f7+ ♚h8 24. ♕h7#) 20. ♕h8+ ♚g6 21. ♘h4+ ♚g5 22. ♕g7+ ♚h5 23. ♕xf7+ ♚g5 24. ♕g6#