Miniatures 6

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

L Filipowicz (175 BCF) - Spanton (ungraded)

North London Spring Congress 1989

Philidor Countergambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5?!

Stockfish17 and Dragon1 strongly dislike this gambit, preferring 3...Nf6, 3...Nd7 or 3...exd4.

How should White respond?

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4.Nc3

This is the main move in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, but the engines prefer 4.Bc4 or 4.exf5!?

4...Nf6?!

Almost certainly better is the most popular continuation, 4...fxe4.

5.dxe5 Nxe4 6.Bc4!?

The engines agree this is best.

6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 c6?

Better, but still losing, according to the engines, is 7...d5!? 8.Bxd5 Be7.

8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Bg5

Probably even stronger is 9.0-0, but either way White's lead in development and safer king are decisive.

9...h6

Getting queens off is preferred by the engines, but 9...Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 increases Black's development advantage.

10.Qe2+ Be7 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Ne5 h5? 14.Bf7+ 1-0

LESSON: when playing an opening that is sharp, but dodgy, success is unlikely without knowing the basic theory and ideas.

Opening Evolution - Philidor Countergambit (conclusions)

AS this series has shown, the Philidor Countergambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!?) has featured, and occasionally still does feature, in the games of the world's elite.
At lower levels it can be used as a regular part of a repertoire, and one that has a good chance of being reached if White opens 1.e4.
The Gwent player Joseph Turner, who has an ECF of 174, has eight Philidor Countergambits in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database in a four-year period from July 2011 to April 2015.
He scored +3=0-5 against a field with an average rating of 1985, giving him a rating performance of 1929.
His average rating during those games was 1958, so he performed 29pts below his rating (Black on average performs 35pts below, according to computer analysis by IM - now GM - Larry Kaufman).
Other names familiar from the British chess circuit who have used the Philidor Countergambit include Ronnie Burton (he drew with it against IM Andrew Ledger at Guernsey in 2000), John Naylor, Oliver Jackson, Andrew Dunn, Tim Kett and Kevin Goater.
Finally, here is one of my efforts.
Alan Marshall (136) - Spanton (161)
Middlesex League Division Two 1989
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!? 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Nh6 7.Nc3 c6 8.Qd4?

Position after 8.Qd4?

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Most popular, as we have seen, is 8.Ngxe4!?, while Stockfish10 and Komodo10 like 8.g3!? The text, which looks aggressive but is easily countered, does not appear in Mega19.
8...Qf6 9.Be3 Be7 10.Ne2
This defends the queen, so the dark-square bishop can maintain its defence of g5, but now the light-square bishop will have trouble developing.
10...0-0 11.0-0-0!?
The engines do not like this, but AM may have thought opposite-side castling gave him his best practical chance as otherwise he is likely to meekly lose the e pawn while being overrun in the centre.
11...Nf5 12.Qxf6 Bxf6 13.Nh3 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxe6 15.Nef4 Bg4 16.Be2 Bxe2 17.Ne2 Nd7 18.Rhf1 Be5 19.g3 Nf6 20.Nhf4 Ng4 21.Ne6?
21.Kd2 at least saves the e3 pawn.
21...Rxf1 22.Rxf1 Nxe3 23.Rf2 Re8 24.Nc5 b6 25.Nd7
Or 25.Nb3 Bxb2+!
25...Bd6 26.Nd4 Rd8 27.Ne5 Bxe5 0-1

Opening Evolution - Philidor Countergambit (part five)

WHAT to do if the Philidor Countergambit is played against you unexpectedly and you have nothing prepared? This high-level game from a Canadian tournament provides one answer.
Pascal Charbonneau (2513) - Hikaru Nakamura (2733)
Lloydminster 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!? 4.exf5!?
This is by no means as popular as 4.dxe5 or 4.Nc3. But it has a certain importance in that early examples of the position reached after 4.exf5!?  (Isidor Gunsberg in 1887; Emanuel Lasker in 1910) come via the Latvian Gambit, ie 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!? 3.exf5 d6 4.d4.
4...e4 5.Ng5 Bxf5
This protects against Qh5+ as well as supporting the e pawn.
6.f3 exf3?!
This apparent-novelty is not liked by Stockfish10 and Komodo10, who give 6...Be7, albeit preferring White.
7.Qxf3

Black to make his seventh move

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7...Qe7+??
This drops a piece. Black had to play 7...Nh6.
8.Kd1
Did Nakamura somehow miss this simple sidestep? Black is still in the game after 8.Be2 Nc6 as 9.Qxf5? (9.Nc3 is better) runs into 9...Qxe2+!
8...Qf6
Defending the f5 bishop and getting the queen off the dangerous e file, but now the a8 rook falls.
9.Qxb7 Qxd4+ 10.Bd3 Qg4+ 11.Nf3 Bxd3 12.cxd3 Ne7 13.Qxa8 (1-0, 31 moves)

Opening Evolution - Phiidor Countergambit (part four)

ENGLAND'S Jonathan Mestel prepared the Philidor Countergambit for the 1975 world U20 championship, held in Tjentište, Yugoslavia.
He surprised Paul van der Sterren with it in round eight, winning in 33 moves.
In the 13th and final round he tried it again, in a game that would decide the destination of the bronze medal.
Peter Nurmi - Mestel
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!? 4.Bc4!?
Although this move is only fourth-most popular, behind 4.dxe5, 4.Nc3 and 4.exf5, it is the choice of Stockfish10 and Komodo10.
4...exd4!?
This seems to have been the first time the move was played, but it was to become Black's first choice ahead of 4...fxe4.
5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxh7?!
Hoping to follow up with 6.Qh5+, but Mestel prevents this. Almost certainly better is 6.0-0, which Andras Adorjan used in a win over Mestel at the 1977 European team championship.
6...Ng4 7.Nxf8 Kxf8 8.exf5
8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd5 Qe8 was played with a roughly equal position in Maxim Sorokin (2510) - Evgeni Maljutin (2435), 58th USSR championship (Moscow 1991), although Black won in 23 moves.
8...Qe7+ 9.Kf1 Bxf5

White to make his 10th move

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10.Qxd4??
Nurmi presumably missed that this move would cost him the exchange. The engines give 10.Nd2 with a small edge to Black.
10...Nxh2+ 11.Rxh2
Not 11.Kg1?? Qe1+ 12.Bf1 Qxf1#.
11...Rxh2 12.Be3 Qe4 13.Qxe4 Rh1+ 14.Ke2 Bxe4 0-1
I suspect at club level this game would have gone on, but the engines reckon Black's advantage is worth more than a piece, never mind the exchange.

Opening Evolution - Philidor Countergambit (part three)

THROUGHOUT the 19th century, 4.dxe5 remained the most popular reply to the Philidor Countergambit.
But gradually other moves were tried, chiefly 4.Bc4 (Carl Mayet - Wilhelm Hanstein, Berlin 1839, 1-0 19 moves) and 4.Nc3 (Henry Bird - Paul Morphy, London 1858, 0-1 29 moves).
The former never really caught on, although it is still occasionally tried by grandmasters, but 4.Nc3 was to overtake 4.dxe5 as White's main choice.
Vitaly Tseshkovsky (2595) - Ventzislav Inkiov (2495)
Minsk 1982
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!? 4.Nc3 exd4!?
Philidor would presumably have preferred what is today overwhelmingly the main line, 4...fxe4, as he was a great believer in exchanging a bishop's pawn for a central one. After 4...fxe4 play can become very sharp, eg 5.Nxe4 d5 (5...Nf6 may be safer) 6.Nxe5!? (Bird retreated with 6.Ng3 in his loss to Morphy) dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 (better than 8...Nf6, according to Stockfish10 and Komodo10) 9.Qxg6+ Kd7 10.Qf5+ Ke8 11.Qe5+ Qe7 12.Qxh8 Be6 13.Be2 Bg7 14.Qh5+ Bf7 15.Qg4, with a large advantage to White in Aarno Eskelinen - Heikki Susimaa, Finnish Championship 1995, and Spanton (1982) - Oliver Jackson (2182), Hastings 2008-9, although both games were drawn.
5.Qxd4 fxe4 6.Bg5 Nf6 7.Nxe4 Be7 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.Nxf6+ Bxf6 10.Bc4+ Kh8 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Qxf6 gxf6

Exchanges have not solved Black's problems - White is ahead in development and has the better pawn-structure and safer king

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13.Nd4 Bd7 14.Rhe1 Nc6 15.Nxc6 Bxc6 16.Re7
Simple chess by Tseshkovsky. Inkiov's next does not help Black's cause, but he was lost anyway.
16...Bxg2? 17.Rg1 d5 18.Bd3 Be4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Rgg7 Rfe8 21.Rxh7+ Kg8 22.Reg7+ Kf8 23.Rxc7 1-0
Black's only semi-decent move is 23...Kg8, after which 24.Rcg7+ Kf8 25.Rxb7 etc is hopeless for him.

Opening Evolution - Philidor Countergambit (part two)

Howard Staunton & John Owen - Paul Morphy & Thomas Barnes
London 1858
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5!?
Morphy played the Philidor nine times, which compares with three times for the Petrov and 50 times for 2...Nc6, according to ChessBase's 2019 Mega database. Eight of his Philidor opponents played 3.d4, with Morphy replying 3....f5!? four times, scoring +3=1-0, and the modern favourite 3...exd4 four times, scoring +2=1-1. The one time he faced 3.Bc4, Morphy also played 3...f5!?, with the game ending in a draw.
4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Nh5 7.Nc3 c6 8.Ngxe4!? dxe4 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qe5 Rg8 11.Bxh6 Bxh6 12.Rd1

The same position as reached five times in games between Atwood and Wilson in the late 1700s (see part one of this series)

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12...Qg5!?
Wilson always played 12...Qe7, which is at first much preferred by Stockfish10 and Komodo10. But give the engines more time and their evaluations narrow, although still preferring Wilson's move. Saveilly Tartakower in 500 Master Games Of Chess calls 12...Qe7 "passive" and the text "more active," but does not explicitly state his preference.
13.Qc7
Tartakower comments: "For Black to have permitted this intrusion, which threatens Qxc8+ as well as a mate on the move, is proof of steady nerves or most-accurate calculation."
13...Bxe6 14.Qxb7 e3
Tartakower points out that this threatens ...exf2+ followed by ...Qe6#.
15.f3 Qe7!?
The engines prefer 15...e2 16.Bxe2 Qxg2 17.Rf1 Qxh2 18.Ne4! (if 18.Qxa8?! then 18...Qg3+ 19.Rf2 Be3 20.Ne4 Bxf2+ 21.Nxf2 Qc7, when material is level but the engines give Black an edge) Qh4+ 19.Rf2 Be3 20.Qxa8 Bxf2+ 21.Nxf2 Qb4+ 22.c3 Qb6, which is very similar to the line in brackets, but this time the engines slightly prefer White.
16.Qxa8 Kf7
White has emerged from the immediate complications with rook and pawn for bishop. If the white queen can escape from the corner, White must be much better.
17...Bf4?
The engines suggest 17...Kg7, while preferring White.
18.Be2?
Komodo10 likes Johann Löwenthal's suggestion of 18.g3 for quite some time, but eventually agrees with Stockfish10 and an anonymous ChessBase annotator that best is 18.Rd4, the point being to follow with Ra4.
18...Kg7 19.0-0
No longer so strong is Rd4 as Black has 19...Rc8, when 20.Ra4?? runs into 20...Na6 21.Qxc8 Bxc8. Note that if White had played 18.Rd4, the reply 18...Rc8 would not solve Black's problems as White has the pinning 19.Bc4, removing the threat of ...Na6.
19...Qc7?!
Threatening to win the white queen and also threatening ...Bxh2+. But White finds a strong reply, so it seems that better was 19...Rc8!?, when the white queen can be saved by 20.Rd6 Bxd6 21.Nxd6 Qxd6 22.Qxa7+. The engines continue 22...Bf7 23.Qxe3, when they much prefer Black, although the position is unclear as White has three pawns for a knight.
20.Nc5! Bxh2+ 21.Kh1 Bc8
White is the exchange up but the position remains complicated as his queen is still endangered and Black has mating threats.
22.Rd4 Bg3 23.Re4?
This loses. The engines give 23.Ne4! when the game's ...Kh8? loses to 24.Nxg3 Qxg3 25.Qxa7. However, Black can save the dark-square bishop, eg 23...Be5, when the engines reckon Black has full compensation for the exchange.
23...Kh8
The fate of the white queen will be irrelevant if Black delivers mate by switching his queen to the h file via g7.
24.Rd1 Qg7 25.Rh4!?
Desperation, but it contains a point Morphy & Barnes miss.
25...Bxh4?
Best was 25...Qe7 (other moves also win), eg 26.Rdd4 Qxc5.
26.Qxb8 Ba6 27.Qh2?
White had to find 27.Qf4, which, like the text, attacks the dark-square bishop, but has the crucial extra factor of covering the h6 checking square. After 27...Bxe2 28.Rd7 Be7 (the only way to save the dark-square bishop as well as Black's queen) 29.Ne6 Qf6 30.Rxe7! Qxe7 31.Qe5+ Rg7, White has a perpetual by 32.Qb8+ etc.
27...Bxe2 28.Rd7 Qh6 29.Ne4
Nothing gets White's piece back.
29...Bc4 30.Nf6 e2 31.Re7 Qc1+ 32.Qg1 Qxg1+ 33.Kxg1 e1=Q+ 34.Rxe1 Bxe1 0-1

Opening Evolution - Philidor Countergambit

LEARNING an opening variation by looking at how strong players handled it over the decades - over the centuries in the case of the Philidor Countergambit - can be very instructive.
It does not matter if you have no intention of playing the variation with either colour - learning something new is helpful to general chess understanding.
George Atwood - Jonathan Wilson
London 1799?
Notes in italics are algebraicised from 500 Master Games Of Chess by Savielly Tartakower and Julius du Mont.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 
François-André Danican Philidor in his heyday in the third quarter of the 18th century was head-and-shoulders above his rivals. But he had ideas that lesser players were able to spot as simply being wrong, and one of them was Philidor's insistence that Nf3 on the second move is a mistake. He believed the centre had to be fought for with pawns, so blocking the f pawn handicapped White. No serious player believes that today, although there is a similar belief that Nc3 in d-pawn openings is a mistake because it stops White's c pawn joining the battle for the centre.
2...d6 3.d4 f5!?
The starting point of the Philidor Countergambit. 3...f5!? was also Philidor's answer to other third moves by White. He held it was "very advantageous" to exchange a bishop's pawn for a centre pawn, especially so in the case of the f pawn as the exchange simultaneously half-opens the f file for a castled rook. Modern theory holds that 3...exd4 is Black's best move, but 3...f5!? is still reasonably popular at club level and occasionally turns up among games of the elite (Bronstein, Nakamura, Mestel, Kosten, etc).
4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6
Driving an uncomfortable wedge into the hostile position.
6...Nh6 7.Nc3 c6 8.Ngxe4!?
A very early example of the 'positional sacrifice', which is esteemed so highly at the present day [1952].
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 prefer 8.g3!?, with the idea of protecting the e6 pawn with Bh3.
8...dxe4 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qe5 Rg8 11.Bxh6 Bxh6 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.Bc4

The same opponents reached this position at least five times

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13...b5?
Wilson played this twice, as he did for 13...Bg7, which is the choice of Komodo10 and Stockfish10. Wilson also once tried the irrelevant 13...a6? He lost all five games.
14.Bb3
Even stronger is 14.Nxe4! as 14...bxc4 loses to 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Nxc8, eg 16...Nd7 17.Rxd7 Rxc8 18.Rxe7 Kxe7 19.0-0, when White has queen, two pawns and a continuing attack for rook and bishop.
14...a5
This furious counterattack affords White a respite of a 'tempo', which he utilises in masterly fashion. 14...Bg7 would therefore have been better.
15.Nxe4!
Well-calculated. Apparently Black only expected 15.a3, after which …Bg7 would still have been possible.
Atwood played 15.a4, after which the engines reckon the position is dynamically balanced, against Wilson in a game in 1798. The text was presumably a prepared improvement, showing how important opening theory was even more than 200 years ago.
15...a4
Tartakower points out that 15...Bg7 could be met by 16.Nd6+ Kd8 17.Qc5, eg 17...Nd7 18.Qxc6 Rb8 19.Nxc8 and wins without appeal. If 16...Kf8, Tartakower gives 17.Qf4+ Qf6 18.Nxc8! Qxf4 20.Rd8#.
16.Nf6+ Kf8 17.Nxg8 Kxg8 18.Rd8+!
A beautiful 'deflecting sacrifice'. and the crowning glory.
18...Qxd8 19.e7+ 1-0