This week's GOTW was played at the Père-Noël Open in Montreal. Both players are promising juniors from Montreal, and White decided to play a king's gambit. While the game was mostly one-sided, both players missed important tactics that could have changed the outcome of the game. With such an opening, calculation is the key and any small mistake can cost you the game.For more information on the King's Gambit, we would recommend reading this Wikipedia page or buying a book from Strategy Games.
[Event "Pere Noel"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2014.12.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn"]
[Black "Luo, Alan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C35"]
[WhiteElo "1862"]
[BlackElo "1692"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2014.12.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 {The King's Gambit. This is a good opening to surprise your
opponent from time to time, but it is perhaps not a good idea to play this
systematically.} exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 {Black had many other options : 3... g5 is
the most common, followed by 3... d6 or 3... d5.} 4. Bc4 Bh4+ $6 {Black scores
horribly in this line according to my database, and this is not quite
surprising, as Black temporarily weakens White's position, only to suffer
himself from long-term consequences.} ({Stronger seems to be} 4... Nf6 5. e5
Ng4 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 d5) 5. Kf1 {This is a common theme in the King's Gambit.
White is forced to play Kf1, but this was part of the plan. In exchange, White
gained some tempi and will actively contest the center.} d6 6. d4 Bg4 {This
position is quite promising for White. Black has achieved his goal of
preventing White from castling, but has no real counterplay. White now
controls the center and has active pieces.} 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. Bxf4 {As it is often
the case in this opening, White manages to win back the pawn it sacrificed on
the second move. However, in this case Black still has a lot of weaknesses,
and his king is probably more in danger than White's.} Qd7 $2 {Black realizes
that his king would probably only be in security on the queen's side. However,
by playing this move he overlooks a very nice tactic.} 9. d5 $1 Bxf3 $2 {Loses
right away} (9... Nce7 10. Bb5 c6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Bc4 {And White clearly has
a better position, but Black can still fight.}) 10. Qxf3 $2 (10. dxc6 $1 Qxc6
11. Qd4 $3 {with the threat of Bb5.}) 10... Nce7 $2 {In such a tactical
position, it is not surprising that both players make numerous mistakes.} 11.
Rd1 (11. Bb5 $1 c6 12. dxc6 bxc6 13. Bc4 {And Black cannot defend f7 and d6 at
the same time.} Ng6 14. Bxd6) 11... a6 $1 12. e5 dxe5 13. Bxe5 Bf6 {Black's
last moves were very accurate, but he will need to find much more such moves
if he hopes to survive.} 14. d6 Nc6 ({Black had to go for the cold-blooded}
14... cxd6 15. Bxd6 Qc6) 15. Bg3 (15. dxc7 {Was pretty much enough to end the
game.}) 15... Be5 16. Bxf7+ {Not the most accurate continuation, but certainly
one of the most entertaining! In this kind of position, exchanging queens is
rarely what White is looking for, but in this situation White knows what he is
doing.} Qxf7 17. d7+ Kf8 18. Qxf7+ Kxf7 19. Bxe5 Nf6 {White has not yet won a
piece, but the monster on d7 will soon decide the game.} (19... Nxe5 20. d8=Q)
20. Bxc7 Ke6 21. Kf2 Nxd7 22. Rd6+ Ke7 23. Re1+ Nde5 24. Rd5 Rhf8+ 25. Kg1 {
Ironically, White's very last move is to put his king in safety, after having
spent most of the game in f1.} 1-0
