..
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.10.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Halloween Gambit"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C47"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "58"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 {The Halloween Gambit White gives the N
for a pawn, a lead in development, a menacing mobile center, and a chance to
frighten an unprepared opponent.} Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 $1 (5... Nc6 $5 6. d5 Ne5 (
6... Bb4 $5 {Kafuman} 7. dxc6 Nxe4 8. Qd4 Qe7 $15) 7. f4 Ng6 8. e5 {White
scores pretty well from here, but with best play is close to lost:} Ng8 (8...
Bb4 $5) 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6 Qf6 11. Nb5 Nxf4 $1 {Novelty} 12. Nc7+ Kd8 13. Nxa8 Qe5+
14. Be2 Nxg2+ 15. Kf1 (15. Kf2 Nh4 $1 $19) 15... Nf4 $17) 6. e5 Ng8 {The most
ambitious, and best.} (6... Bb4 {is recc. by Eric Schiller and by Cyrus
Lakdawala. The idea is that} 7. exf6 Qxf6 {gives the piece back for
development -- not an outright refutation, but a sensible and time-saving way
to get a decent position.} 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O $11 Bxc3 10. bxc3 d6 11. Rb1 b6
12. Bd5 Rb8 13. Re1 Bd7 14. Qd3 a5 15. Qg3 Rfe8 16. Bg5 Qf5 $15 17. h4 $4 Qxd5
{0-1 (17) Polok,K (2228)-Ragger,M (2651) Wroclaw (blitz) 2014}) 7. Bc4 Bb4 (
7... d5 {is the usual recommendation, giving back a pawn to speed development
and stabilize the central light squares, and it's what the highest-rated
player in the database played:} 8. Bxd5 N8e7 (8... c6 {Euwe} 9. Bb3 Bb4 {
"White's development advantage is close to non-existent and Black has a very
solid light-square blockade which is impossible for White to break down." -
Martin Lokander, Opening Repertoire: Open Games with Black, Everyman, 2015}) 9.
Bg5 Qd7 10. Bb3 Nf5 11. O-O Bb4 (11... Nxd4 $142 $1) 12. Be3 O-O 13. Ne4 Be7
14. c3 c5 $17 15. Ng3 cxd4 16. cxd4 Ngh4 17. Qd3 Nxg3 $2 18. fxg3 $1 Ng6 (18...
Nf5 $4 {loses to} 19. e6 fxe6 20. Rxf5 Rxf5 21. Qxf5 $18) 19. Rad1 Bd8 {
[#]For the N, White has a big lead in development and two extra pawns in the
center. One option is to double Rs on the f-file and see how Black will
untangle. Another is to try to get the center pawns going.} 20. h4 $6 (20. Rxf7
{spectacular, but not good:} Rxf7 21. e6 Qxe6 22. Bxe6 Bxe6 23. d5 Rd7 $15) (
20. Qe4 $5 Bb6 21. e6 $3 fxe6 22. d5 $3 $13) 20... Qg4 $1 21. Bd2 Bb6 (21...
Be6 $1 22. d5 Bb6+ $1 23. Kh2 Nxe5 24. Qc3 Bd4 $1 $19) 22. Bb4 Rd8 (22... Be6
$1 $15) 23. Bxf7+ Kh8 24. Bd6 Be6 25. Kh2 $14 Bxf7 26. Rxf7 Rd7 27. Rxd7 Qxd7
28. Qf3 Ne7 $2 29. Qf7 $1 Qg4 (29... Re8 30. e6 $18) 30. Rf1 Ng8 31. e6 Qxd4
32. Bf8 Nh6 33. Qxb7 Re8 34. Qc6 Qd8 35. e7 Qc8 $4 (35... Ng4+ {Only move.} 36. Kh3 Qd3
37. Qxe8 Qxf1 38. Kxg4 Qd1+ 39. Kf4 Qd4+ $11) 36. Bxg7+ {Only move.} $18 Kxg7 37. Qf6+
Kg8 38. Qg5+ {Only move.} Kh8 39. Qxh6 {Only move.} Bc5 40. Rf7 {1-0 (42) Polok,K (2170)-Malaniuk,
V (2519) Szklarska Poreba 2012}) 8. Qf3 Qe7 9. O-O (9. h4 {Stockfish's top
choice.} Nxe5 $6 (9... f6 $5) (9... c6 $5) 10. dxe5 Qxe5+ 11. Kf1 Nf6 12. Bf4
Qd4 13. Re1+ Kf8 14. Bb3 d6 15. Rd1 Qc5 16. Bg5 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Qf5 18. Qe2 Bd7
19. Rh3 Re8 20. Qf3 Qxf3 21. Rxf3 Bg4 22. Rxf6 gxf6 23. Bxf6 Bxd1 24. Bxh8 Be2+
25. Kg1 b5 26. Bd5 Bc4 27. Bc6 Re1+ 28. Kh2 Ra1 29. Be4 Kg8 30. Bf6 Rxa2 31.
Kg3 a5 32. Kf4 a4 33. Kg5 a3 34. Kh6 Rb2 35. Be7 f5 {0-1 (35) Linnanen,L (2170)
-Aguera Naredo,J (2375) Skopje 2015}) 9... Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nh6 $1 {Getting the K
out of the center is more important than a nice-looking kingside structure.} (
10... d6 $2 11. Ba3 $1 {and Black will be very uncomfortable.}) 11. Bxh6 gxh6
12. Rae1 O-O {White has as much as he could hope for with this gambit: a big
lead in development and the possibility of pushing his center pawns.} 13. d5 $4
(13. Qe3 $1 {attacking h6 and preparing f2-f4-f5.} d6 14. f4 Nh4 $15) 13... d6
$19 {chopping off the head of the potential pawn roller and blocking the Bc4.}
14. exd6 (14. e6 {doesn't open lines, since} fxe6 {hits the Qf3.}) 14... Qxd6
15. Re4 Bd7 16. Rfe1 Rae8 17. Bd3 Kg7 18. c4 b6 {The central pawns are
blockaded, Black's K is safe, and White still has only a pawn for the piece.
If you listen carefully, you can hear Vincent Price cackling...} 19. Qd1 Rxe4
20. Rxe4 Re8 21. g3 Rxe4 22. Bxe4 Qe5 23. Bg2 h5 24. h4 Bg4 25. f3 Qxg3 $1 26.
Qd4+ f6 27. fxg4 Nxh4 28. Qe4 Qxg2+ 29. Qxg2 Nxg2 {0-1 (29) Kuehl,S (1822)
-Barron,M (2316) Canadian Senior, Kitchener, 2015} 0-1
