Miniatures 8

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

Christopher Rice (168 BCF) - Spanton (ungraded)

North London Spring Congress 1989

Bishop's Opening

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4!?

This gambit scores 58% in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database.

How should Black respond?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

3...Nxe4!?

This has been played by grandmasters, but Stockfish17 and Dragon1 prefer the more popular 3...Nc6 and 3....exd4.

4.dxe5 Bc5?

The engines reckon 4...c6 leaves White with 'only' the upper hand.

5.Qd5!? Bxf2+

This is the commonest continuation in Mega25, but better may be 5...Qh4.

6.Kf1 Qh4

The other known moves, 6...0-0 and 6...Qe7, allow 7.Qxe4.

7.Qxf7+ Kd8 8.Nc3 Nxc3

Or 8...Bxg1 9.Nxe4, when the threats include Bg5+.

9.Nf3 1-0

LESSON: it is hard to survive White's gambits in double-e pawn openings without knowing some theory.