C33 King's Gambit Accepted: 3.Nc3 and 3.Bc4 (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d6 4.d4)

It is time to take a look at another variation of the King's Gambit. This is one of the variations that should be losing for White with best play according to the extensive research done on the subject about a year later after this game was played. This game was played between two human players, so the moves were far from perfect. Then again I do realise that even between two stong engines the moves are not perfect either. The game below was played in a weekend tournament that was held at Tampere over five years ago. This is taken from round 5, which was the last round of the tournament. Before this game my opponent had lost the round one game, but then he had won all other games. I had won all my four previous games, so this could have been the tournament where I finally won with a perfect score 5 out of 5. However, the opening my opponent chose was something that I have really struggled with. In the future I will most likely play 3...Nf6 instead of the move 3...d6 that I played in this game. Because I lost this game I was on second place in the final standings of group B and the opponent I faced in the game below was on first place.

My third move is actually an okay move, the position should be roughly even after that. The position below is taken after 5.h4. I played 5...Bh6 in reply, which was the starting point for the disaster of a game that this was for me. While my opponent did some inaccurate moves, he never let me back in to the game.

I have never been able to win all five games in a weekend tournament like this, I think the closest I have been is half a point away from the perfect score. That I have been able to do a couple of times. I have been able to get 5 out of 5 in an online tournament though, most memorable one is the one World Open Rapid tournament I played at the FIDE Online Arena. My performance rating was 2413! The highest performance rating I have ever been able to get.

[Event "Tammer-Shakin XV"] [Site "?"] [Date "2011.03.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Takku, Teppo"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C33"] [WhiteElo "1735"] [BlackElo "1830"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 {King's Gambit Accepted, Bishop's Gambit} d6 (3... b5 {King's Gambit Accepted, Bishop's Gambit, Kieseritzky Gambit}) (3... c6 { King's Gambit Accepted, Bishop's Gambit, Lopez Defense}) (3... Nf6 $1 {The best reply. According to extensive research White should be lost with best play. King's Gambit Accepted, Bishop's Gambit, Cozio Defense}) 4. d4 {C33 King's Gambit Accepted: 3.Nc3 and 3.Bc4} g5 5. h4 Bh6 (5... d5 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. hxg5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Bxf4 Be6 10. Be5 Rg8 11. Nc3 Qxg2 12. Qf3 Rxg5 13. O-O-O Nc6 14. Bxc7 Rc8 15. d5 Rxc7 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Qd3 Qxh1 18. Nf3 Qh6 19. Kb1 Rf5 20. Nb5 {Taylor,T (2290)-Aaberg, A (2208) Monterey Park 2012 0-1 (37)}) 6. Qh5 $146 (6. hxg5 Bxg5 7. Qh5 Qe7 8. Nf3 Qxe4+ 9. Kd1 Be7 10. Bxf7+ Kd8 11. Bg6 Qe6 12. Bxf4 Nf6 13. Ng5 Nxh5 14. Nxe6+ Bxe6 15. Bxh5 Bf6 16. c3 Bd5 17. Bf3 Bxf3+ 18. gxf3 h5 19. Nd2 d5 20. Be5 Nd7 {Dyer,A (1625)-Pedersen Lee,L (1258) Canberra 2007 1-0 (41)}) 6... Qf6 (6... Qe7 7. hxg5 Bg7 8. Ne2 $16 (8. Bxf4 $6 Bxd4 9. Nd2 Nc6 $14)) 7. Nf3 (7. hxg5 {keeps an even firmer grip} Bxg5 8. Nc3 Qg7 $18) 7... g4 (7... gxh4 8. Nc3 Qg6 9. Qxh4 Be6 $18) 8. Ng5 Bxg5 9. hxg5 (9. Qxg5 $6 Qxd4 10. Nc3 Nc6 $11 (10... Qxc4 $2 {is seductive, but} 11. Qg7 $16)) 9... Qg6 10. Qxg6 fxg6 (10... hxg6 $4 11. Rxh8 Kf8 12. Rh7 $18) 11. Bxg8 (11. Bxf4 $142 {would have given White a clear advantage} Ne7 12. Nc3 $18) 11... Rxg8 $16 12. Rxh7 Bd7 $2 (12... Nc6 $142 $5 13. Bxf4 Nxd4 $16) 13. Bxf4 $18 Nc6 14. c3 (14. d5 $5 Nd8 $18) 14... O-O-O $16 15. Nd2 Rde8 (15... Rdf8 16. Be3 $16) 16. O-O-O (16. Kf2 Rgf8 17. Kg3 d5 18. exd5 Ne7 $18) 16... Kd8 17. Rdh1 Ref8 18. g3 Be8 $4 {but even a better move would not have saved the game} (18... Re8 $142 $18) 19. Nf1 (19. e5 $5 {seems even better} dxe5 20. dxe5 Rf7 $18) 19... Bd7 (19... Nb8 20. Ne3 Bc6 21. Nxg4 Bxe4 22. R1h2 $18) 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. Kd2 Be6 (21... Re8 22. R1h4 $18) 22. a3 (22. d5 $142 {and White can already relax} Bc8 23. e5 dxe5 24. Bxe5 Rf2+ 25. Kd3 Bf5+ 26. Nxf5 Rxf5 $18) 22... Bd7 23. c4 {White plans d5} Be6 (23... Re8 $18 {desperation}) 24. d5 Bd7 25. c5 $1 {a convincing end} dxc5 26. Bxc7+ $1 {Deflection: e7} Kxc7 27. Rxe7 Rf2+ (27... Re8 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 28. Rhh7 Rxe7 29. Rxe7 $18) 28. Kc1 (28. Ke1 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Rxb2 29. Rhh7 $18) 28... Kd8 (28... Re8 {no good, but what else?} 29. Rxe8 Bxe8 30. Rh7+ Rf7 31. Rxf7+ Bxf7 $18) 29. Rhh7 Bc8 30. d6 Re8 31. Nd5 Rf1+ 32. Kd2 Rf2+ 33. Ke1 Ref8 34. Nf6 Rxb2 (34... Rf3 {does not help much} 35. d7 Bxd7 36. Rxd7+ Kc8 37. Rc7+ Kb8 38. Rxb7+ Kc8 39. Nd5 Rf1+ 40. Kd2 R8f2+ 41. Kc3 Rf3+ 42. Kc4 Rf7 43. Rhxf7 Rxf7 44. Rxf7 a6 45. Kxc5 Kd8 46. Nf6 a5 47. Kc6 a4 48. e5 Kc8 49. Rf8#) 35. d7 (35. Ref7 Rb1+ 36. Kd2 Re8 37. Nxe8 Rb2+ 38. Kc1 Rg2 39. Nf6 Rg1+ 40. Kd2 Rg2+ 41. Ke1 Rg1+ 42. Kf2 Rg2+ 43. Kxg2 Bd7 44. Rxd7+ Kc8 45. Rh8#) 35... b6 36. Re8+ (36. Re8+ Kc7 37. dxc8=Q+ Kd6 38. e5#) 1-0