How bad is 2...Qf6?

Players relatively new to the game are often warned not to bring their queen out too early The move 2...Qf6 after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 was examined early in chess history. It appears in several manuscripts that reflect the work of Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioachino Greco, and also in a sixteenth century manuscript reflecting the work of Pedro Damiano and Luis Ramirez de Lucena.

White to move

What should White do? I was surprised that my database of online games contains only 65 games with this position as it seems that I see it often lately. My score of 66% wins with White is unpleasant, too. I should have more success, especially as this queen foray is more often played by lower rated players. In fact, I underperform against it with a performance rating more than 100 lower that my average rating. My database also shows that I played this move once. I won with Black.

In the vast majority of the 304 games in ChessBase Mega 2020 that reached this position, White opts for one of two natural developing moves: 3.Nc3 is most popular (133 games), and second most often played is 3.Bc4 (93 games). Both score approximately 75%. I have played both of these moves and several others.

Monday morning, I opted for 3.c3, which I had played at least seven times prior. Although appearing in only five games in CB Mega, it may be the oldest response. It appears in the sixteenth century German MS produced by an unknown author sometime after 1512, purporting to present the work of Damiano and Lucena. Peter J. Monté has a chapter devoted to this MS in The Classical Era of Modern Chess (2014) and offers two lines after 3.c3 in Part II.

My game continued:

3...Bc5 4.d4 exd4

The German MS has 4...Bb6 and then 5.Be3 (5.h3 h6 6.Nxe5 d6 7.Nf3) 5...d6 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg5 Qg6 8.Qd8#.

Three games on Lichess went as far as 6...dxe5 and then all had 7.Bxb6. After 7.Bg5, Black must play 7...Qd6, of course. 5.Be3 is not the strongest move in this old line. 5.a4, 5.Nxe5, and 5.dxe3 all give White a decisive advantage.

White to move

5.e5

If Black brings out the queen early, I should kick it around.

5.cxd4 is preferred by Stockfish. 5...Bb4+ 6.Nc3. White has a clear lead in development.

Perhaps White should favor normal development. What principles guide the punishment of Black's early queen foray?

5...Qg6

Although the engine favor removing the queen to its starting square, such a move is not in the spirit of 2...Qf6.

6.cxd4

Stockfish would give up prospects of castling kingside with 6.Bd3! Qxg2 7.Rg1 Qh3 8.Rg3 Qe6 9.cxd4 with a decisive advantage in the judgement of the software.

6...Bb4+ 7.Nc3

White has a comfortable position. A couple of moves later, my opponent gave up the dark-squared bishop for the gain of a pawn. I went on to win. My play was sloppy, failing to find the strongest moves. My reluctance to give up the g-pawn for an opportunity to chase Black's queen with developing moves is one lesson I take from this game.

The Doazan manuscript credited to Polerio offers two main lines that follow from 2...Qf6 (see "Classic Bishop Sacrifice: Early History" for a discussion of this MS). One of these lines leads to a clear advantage for White, but the other is less clear.

Polerio,Giulio Cesare [C40]
Doazan MS, c.1610

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 3.Nc3 Bc5

White to move

3...Bc5 is a terrible move that allows White to exploit the position of the Black queen. Polerio offers an instructive line that is worth learning.

4.Nd5 Qd6 or Qg6 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Bf4 1-0

Polerio,Giulio Cesare [C40]
Doazan MS, c. 1610

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 3.Nc3 c6

This move is much better that 3...Bc5.

4.Bc4 Bc5 5.0-0 d6

White to move

White is better, but Polerio's line does not demonstrate an advantage.

6.h3

6.d4 is suggested by Stockfish with a clear advantage for White.

6...Be6 7.Bb3 Nd7 8.d3 h6 9.Kh1 Ne7 10.Ng1 0-0 11.f4 

Polerio's line ends here. The position seems close to equal.

Gioachino Greco's explorations of this queen foray appear in the Paris (1625) and Orléans (n.d.) manuscripts. Monté notes that Orléans was likely copied from the Paris MS (339). ChessBase has three games from these explorations, although the lines given in that database are not entirely attested by Monté's compilation of lines found in sixteenth and seventeenth century manuscripts. I plan another post showing what we can know of Greco's work on 2...Qf6. (edit: now posted at "Greco on 2...Qf6")

The Art of Analysis

How do you analyze a chess game?

I was thinking about this question this morning when I would have preferred to sleep another hour. Hence, I thought to open Irving Chernev, The 1000 Best Short Games of Chess (1955) to the next game and analyze it. Then, I would compare my annotations to those Chernev offers. I am working my way through this book.

While analyzing a game, I look at many possibilities that will vary depending on the game and why it has come to my attention. For miniatures, such as one finds in this classic Chernev text, I expect to find a game-losing blunder and sometimes a series of weak moves. I make an effort to identify these before seeking any assistance from the annotations of others or from engines.

Wills -- Sparks [C42]
USA, 1942
Stripes,James

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4?

This move is the critical error and a common beginner's mistake. There are few chess coaches who have not shown this error and the subsequent refutation to their students. It also appears in some of the oldest chess books and manuscripts (see the section on history below).

4.Qe2 Qe7

4...Nf6?? worsens matters and should be shown to beginners 5.Nc6+ wins the queen.

5.Qxe4

Black to move

5...d6 6.d4 f6

6...dxe5 and Black is a pawn down. Surely, this should be preferred to a futile effort for equality that cannot succeed against attentive play.

7.f4 Nd7 8.Nc3 dxe5

White to move

9.Nd5!+-

The refutation of Black's idea is a good example of an intermezzo. Instead of continuing a sequence of exchanges, White attack's Black's queen.

9...Qd6 10.fxe5 fxe5 11.dxe5 Qc6

11...Nxe5 12.Bf4 Yes, Black ends up a piece down, but that piece is a knight. Alternatives leave Black down a rook or a knight.
11...Qxe5 12.Qxe5+ Nxe5 13.Nxc7+ Kd8 14.Nxa8 Black may be able to trap the knight, being down only an exchange.

12.Bb5 Qc5 13.Be3 1-0

Chernev does not highlight the critical error, but offers some analysis after the game is already lost. His headnote, however, offers a clue to Black's fatal decision: "Mimicry can be very amusing, but in chess it usually turns out to be expensive fun" (91).

Wills -- Sparks [C42]
USA, 1942
Chernev,Irving

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7

The knight must not move, as the discovered check will cost Black his queen.

5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 Nd7 8.Nc3 dxe5 9.Nd5 Qd6 10.fxe5 fxe5 11.dxe5 Qc6

11...Qxe5 12.Qxe5+ Nxe5 13.Nxc7+; or 11...Nxe5 12.Bf4 wins a piece

12.Bb5 Qc5 13.Be3 1-0

I must credit Chernev's sometimes cryptic annotations for driving me to think and analyze for myself when I first encountered this book 47 years ago.

History

Neither the players Wills and Sparks, nor this particular execution of these moves are well-known apart from Chernev's book, but the moves and ideas can be found in the texts of Pedro Damiano, Ruy Lopez. Giulio Cesare Polerio, Gioachino Greco, and others. In ChessBase Mega 2020, Greco's game is the oldest, but Chessgames.com has one attributed to Damiano.

The following game appeared in ChessBase News in Spanish and German versions on 21 May 2009. The only English versions I have found are Google Translate versions of these. The article is an interview with Mário Silva Araújo, an amateur historian who produced a biographical study of Damiano. Araújo suggests that Damiano fled Portugal to Rome because he was Jewish. In December 1496, King Manuel I of Portugal ordered the expulsion of Jews from the nation. According to Araújo, "It is the oldest known game played--and won--by a Portuguese."

Damiano [C42]
Rome 1497

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 Nd7 8.Nc3 dxe5 9.Nd5 Qd6 10.dxe5 fxe5 11.fxe5 Qc6 12.Bb5 Qc5 13.Be3 Qxe3+

The game presented on chessgames.com lists Araújo's study as its source and concludes 13...Qxb5 14.Nxc7

14.Nxe3 1-0

Early Petrov lines similar to those in these games span pages 449-452 in Peter J. Monté, The Classical Era of Modern Chess (2014), "Part II. Openings and Games of the Classical Era of Modern Chess". There the move order presented from Damiano's published text and its many reprints have 7...dxe5, but still reach a position after White's move 11 that is shared by all the games presented in this post.

Black to move

There are several continuations from this point in manuscripts from the late fifteenth century to Greco's seventeenth century work: 11...Qc6, 11...Qc5, and 11...Qg6. Monté also presents a fair number of alternatives to the main line that were explored in these manuscripts. Whoever Sparks may have been, he fell prey to one of the oldest known opening fiascos.

Sandpoint Chess Tournament

Sandpoint, Idaho is a small community of less than 9000 residents that sits on the north end of Lake Pend Oreille. About thirty years ago, Lou Domanski, an A-Class chess player, moved there after retirement and developed some chess programs, including an annual chess tournament. Organized by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation, the event draws 20-50 chess players of all ages, an impressive turnout for a community this size.

In 2009, I was asked by a local who had been bringing his daughter to youth events that I ran in Spokane, whether I could run the event as Lou Domanski was no longer able to do so. It has become an event that I look forward to every April. A 75-90 minute drive from my home, depending on the weather, Sandpoint is a terrific community to visit.

I sometimes play in the event to reduce byes in the open section. One year, I played because I was looking for revenge after losing to Savanna the previous year. I had coached her a bit prior to her success as Idaho Girl's Co-Champion, which earned her a trip to Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, where she finished 9th. At the next event where we faced each other, she beat me again. The final moves of that game found their way into Forcing Checkmate (2017), which can be purchased through Amazon. For a few years as she finished school, Savanna regularly won the open section. I beat her the second time I played in the event, but lost to another player and still finished in 2nd place.

Coming back after two years without the event due to COVID, yesterday's event was small. There were five players registered for the open section, and fifteen in the other two. I opted to play so no one would get a bye. It gave us a round robin, albeit paired via Swiss System rules.

In the first round, I played the horrid 5...a6 from this position.

Black to move

My opponent punished the error and my position grew worse with further errors. However, when my opponent gave me a free piece with 15.Bxh7+, I clamored back into the game and eventually won.

Round two found me playing the risky and inaccurate 4.c3 in the Italian Two Knights

White to move

Play continued 4...d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.O-O Bg4 7.d4 e4?

White to move

After this error, I was able to take control of the game.

In round three, I gained a nice position from the Nimzo-Indian Defense and finished the game with a nice move here.

Black to move

Round four gave me an opportunity to show that Damiano's Gambit is a clear win for White, but I threw it away.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5?

3...Qe7

4.Qh5+ Ke7 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ d5 7.Bxd5+ Kg6

White to move

8.Qg3+

This move is not best. 8.h4 presents Black with unsolvable difficulties.

8...Qg5 9.Qxc7 Ne7

White to move

This position was not new to me. I had it earlier this year in a rapid game on Lichess. It led to my only loss with Damiano's Gambit.

10.Qd6+??

From winning to equal. 10.h4 was the correct move.

10...Kh5

On Lichess, my opponent answered 10...Qf6, and after 11.e5??, I went from equal to losing.

11.e5 Bg6 12.Nc3??

Hunting for checkmate, I am blind.

12...Bxd6-+

I should have lost this game, but my opponent returned the gift of the queen three moves later.

My last round opponent is fairly new to active play and was eager for resources to develop his game. We had a nice conversation.

I quickly gained the upper hand with Black after the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.h4 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Be7 6.Nf3 d5

White to move

The annual Lou Domanski Chess Festival is friendly unrated competition that I run in accordance with USCF rules, sans clocks until the last 20 minutes of each one-hour round and no expectation of scorekeeping. Although my play was less than stellar, it was a good day. I enjoyed seeing again and playing some of the regulars at this event. It was a nice road trip, too. 

 

Bishop and Knight Checkmate: Some History

Two sixteenth century manuscripts that may have been copied from an unpublished work by Pedro Damiano present the most difficult portion of the checkmate with bishop and knight. Peter J. Monté transcribed the solution in his exceptional book, The Classical Era of Modern Chess (2014), which I reviewed at "Monumental Scholarship". Monté states that his copy of the German Manuscript contains some red ink that makes portions illegible, and that the location of the bishop is uncertain, but certainly on a White square. He states, "[t]his basic mate is also presented in White's Damiano and Carrera" (122). The MS likely was produced in the third quarter of the sixteenth century.

According to tablebases, the initial position is mate in 20. The solution is not perfect, but it is instructive and mostly quite accurate. In the main line (there are variations given), nine moves are less than perfect. The fifth error lengthened the distance to checkmate by ten moves, and was followed by a Black error that shortened the distance to checkmate by nine moves. Only one other sub-optimal move affected the distance to checkmate by more than two moves.

White to move

1.Ng6+ Kh7 2.Bf7 Kh6 3.Bg8 Kh5 4.Ne5

Black to move

4...Kh4

4...Kh6 is given as a variation, which continues 5.Nf7+ (5.Ng4+ better) 5...Kh5 6.Kf5 Kh4 7.Nh6 Kh5 (7...Kg3 is another variation) 8.Ng4 Kh4 9.Bc4 (9.Kf4 is better) 9...Kh5 (9...Kg3 is better) 10.Be2 (10.Bf7+ is better) 10...Kh4 11.Nf6 Kg3 and so on as in the main line. See below at move nine.

5.Kf5 Kh5

5...Kg3 Most stubborn, adding three moves. This is Black's second most significant error.

6.Ng4 Kh4

White to move

7.Bc4

When relearning this checkmate a few years ago, I found two ideas especially helpful: 1) the knight moved in the shape of the letter W, and 2) lead with the knight, follow with the king. Applying these two principles leads to perfect play from this position. See "Bishop and Knight Checkmate".

The move offered in the manuscript leads to checkmate on move nineteen with perfect play.

7.Kf4 Kh5 8.Bf7+ Kh4 9.Ne3 Kh3 10.Bd5 Kh4 11.Bf3 Kh3 12.Bg4+ Kh2 13.Kf3 Kg1 14.Kg3 Kh1 15.Kf2 Kh2 16.Nf1+ Kh1 17.Bf3#

7...Kh5

7...Kg3 more stubborn by one move.

8.Be2

8.Bf7+ better by one move.

8...Kh4 9.Nf6 Kg3

White to move

10.Bd3?

The most significant oversight adds ten moves to mate. It appears that Black's run further from the edge was also overlooked.

10.Ne4+ better.

10...Kh4?

10...Kf2 leads to mate in twenty.

11.Kf4 Kh3 12.Ne4 Kg2

12...Kh4 better by two moves.

13.Kg4 Kg1

13...Kh2 14.Bf1 Kg1 15.Bh3 Kh2 16.Ng5 Kg1 17.Kg3 Kh1 18.Bg2+ Kg1 19.Nf3#

14.Kg3 Kh1 15.Bf1

15.Ng5 leads to checkmate one move faster.

15...Kg1 16.Bh3 Kh1 17.Nd2 Kg1 18.Nf3+ Kh1 19.Bg2# 1-0

Refuting a Beginner's Error

While running a youth chess tournament on Saturday, I played a short game with a young student. He opted for Damiano's Defense, a not uncommon beginner's error. Some of my students this week are gaining experience by playing both sides of the position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! (see "Opening Disaster: Damiano's Defense").

White to move

For the beginning students, I asked them to play from this position for several minutes. Then, I showed them my game from Saturday, as well as a few alternative variations. After the instruction, they played from this position again, taking turns as White.

3.Nxe5! fxe5??

Black is only a little worse after 3...Qe7, a move once played by Mikhail Chigorin in a match (1850-1908), the great Russian master. That game was the source for a lesson in December (see "Outplay Chigorin").

4.Qh5+ Ke7

Black's other legal move, here, does offer prospects for counterplay if White's play lacks vigor.

4...g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 7.Kd1 Ne7 and White is technically winning, but not without problems. This position is a good one to practice against the computer.

5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ Kg6?

6...d5 allows the bishop to cover f5.

White to move

7.h4?

7.Qf5+ was the correct move.

7...h5

7...d5 was still possible.

8.Qf5+ Kh6 9.d4+ g5 10.hxg5+ Kg7 11.Qf7#.

My beginning students need to learn to recognize immediate threats and two move tactics. Advanced students, too, may learn from this short game and from practice from the positions after Black's move two, White's third move, and the variation given after Black's better fourth move.

Lesson of the Week

Through the end of October, we are looking at ideas for Black in a common opening position. We started with ideas that Black should reject.

The common moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 reach a position where Black makes an important choice. Will Black defend the e-pawn or attack White's e-pawn. If Black chooses to defend the e-pawn, what defense will he or she adopt.

2...Qf6 is inadvisable. Our model game is Morphy -- McConnell 1849.
2...Bd6 is inadvisable. The model game comes from a correspondence game that I played in 2005.

This week we look at 2...f6, which may be the worst possible move. It is certainly the worst way to defend the pawn.

White to move

This manner of defense is shockingly common in scholastic tournaments. Consequently, a player who understands its pitfalls may find an opportunity to demonstrate this knowledge when it means an easy win in a tournament game.

This move is also a named opening: Damiano's Defense. Pedro Damiano (1480-1544) pointed out White's refutation of this error, and so it is a bit ironic to name the opening for him. During his life new chess rules were changing the nature of the game. Folks used the terms "new chess" and "old chess" to refer to the differences. The queen and bishop had become the pieces they are today. In the old chess, they were much weaker. 2...f6 was a strong move in the old chess. With bishops and a queen that could move all the way across the board, this move became terrible.

Our model game is the opening phase of a battle that took place in Rome in 1560. Ruy Lopez was a Spanish priest who had to be in Rome on church business. He also was one of the leading chess players in Spain. He spent his free time in Rome playing chess with the leading players of that city. His opponent in this game was Leonardo di Bona, who was nicknamed the kid.

3.Nxe5! fxe5??

2...f6 is an error, but not a game losing one. 3...fxe5 is a blunder. 3...Qe7 offers Black prospects for continuing the game.

4.Qh5+

While looking at the game Morphy -- McConnell, it was stressed that bringing out the queen early was usually an error. However, all strategy generalizations have exceptions. Clear analysis of the position on the board is more important than general strategy principles.

Black to move

Black has two legal moves. The better of the two loses a rook. White's third move looked like a knight sacrifice, but in fact it wins material. If Black tries to hang on to the extra piece, White can force checkmate or win a piece more valuable than the rook.

4...g6

The kid made the best move. He was prepared for this position, including the loss of his rook. He had a plan that he thought was better than the priest's plan.

5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6

White to move

We see that Leonardo di Bona's idea was to trap the White queen. In this position, it has no safe move. However, Black still has some work to do before the queen can be captured. If Lopez succeeds in rescuing his queen, he will have a significant material advantage. If not, he should lose.

7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ d5 9.Bxd5+ Nxd5

White to move

H.J.R. Murray, A History of Chess (1913) tells us that Lopez won this game, but the moves to this position appear to be all that have survived.

In Rome in 1560, Ruy Lopez proved that he was a better chess player than Leonardo di Bona. Fifteen years later, they played another series of games. The Kid had improved significantly. He traveled to Spain to prove his skills. He defeated Lopez and the other leading players of Spain.

Damiano's Gambit

The naming of things proves that Clio, the muse of history, has a wry sense of humor. A case in point is Damiano's Defense. Pedro Damiano (1480-1544) analyzed the opening that bears his name. But, his analysis demonstrated its flaws, not its virtues. In the old chess prior to the late fifteenth century, defending a central e-pawn with f6 was solid. But, when the queen and bishop became the powerful pieces of modern chess, the posibilities of rapid attack changed the game. These new rules may have been in place for a generation in Damiano's day, or they may have been adopted just as he was learning the game. Nonetheless, he was not the first one to examine the opening and conclude that it favored White.

The Göttingen Manuscript, so called because it is in the Göttingen University Library, dates from the late fifteenth century. It examines four moves after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3: 2...f6, 2...d6, 2...Nf6, and 2...Nc6. According to H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess (1913), the author seems to have considered 2...Nc6 as best (784).

Also dating from the late-fifteenth century is the work of Luis Ramírez de Lucena (c.1465-c.1530), Arte de axedres (c.1497), published in Salamanca. Murray points out that Lucena seems to have struggled a bit with the new rules.

He overlooks a mate on the move, because he has forgotten the Bishop's new move, and ends with a mate which the new Queen can spoil by capturing the mating piece. It looks as though Lucena had written his book in a great hurry. (786)

Murray presents Lucena's analysis of the opening that would come to bear Damiano's name.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5

3...Qe7 is also mentioned. Mikhail Chigorin played this move in 1897 (see "Opening Disaster: Damino's Defense").

White to move

4.Qh5+ Ke7 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ d5 7.Bxd5+ Kg6 8.Qg3+ Kf6

8...Qg5 is also examined.

9.Qf4+ Kg6 10.Qf7+

Overlooking 10.Bf7#

10...Kg5 11.d3+ Kg4 12.Qf3+ Kh4 13.g3+ Kh3 14.Qh5+ Kg2 15.e5+

The final position is presented as checkmate despite the possibility of 15...Qxd5.

Neither the Göttingen MS nor Lucena's work appear to have influenced later writers to any significant degree. They are the oldest extant works on modern chess, and that is the limit of their interest. In contrast, Pedro Damiano, Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti (Rome, 1512) went through numerous editions and influenced all subsequent writers. There is some evidence that the 1512 edition, the oldest extant, was not the first edition (see Murray, 787).

Damiano's analysis includes the following, according to J. H. Sarratt, The Works of Damiano, Ruy-Lopez, and Salvio on the Game of Chess (London: T. Boosey, 1813).

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+

Black to move

4...Ke7

4...g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 7.Kd1 is presented as the main game by Sarratt.

5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+

Black to move

6...Kg6

6...d5 7.Bxd5+ Kg6 8.h4 h6 9.Bxb7 Bd6 10.Qa5 is presented by Sarratt as the second variation.

7.Qf5+ Kh6 8.d3+ g5 9.h4 d5 10.hxg5+ Kg7

White to move

11.Qe5+ Nf6 12.gxf6+ Qxf6 13.Qxf6+ Kxf6 14.Bxd5 1–0

The game, as I have it here, is presented by Sarratt as a variation of the main game (see variation at move 6 above).

From 1512 to 1560, Damiano's book went through seven editions. By 1560, according to Murray, it would have been of value only to beginning players. It was in 1560 that a priest from Spain, Rodrigo (Ruy) López de Segura (c. 1530 – c. 1580), made his acquaintance with the book in Rome. He traveled to Italy on church business following the ascension of Pius IV as Pope. While there, he spent his leisure time playing chess. His book, Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez (1561), was published shortly after his return to Spain.

Ruy Lopez demonstrated that his skill was superior to that of the leading players in Rome. But he learned from them a new term that has become a standard part of chess vocabulary: Lopez wrote, "It is derived from the Italian gamba, a leg, and gambitare means to set traps..." (Murray, 813). He named the opening in some games that he played in Rome, "el gambito de Damian" (Damiano's Gambit).

Murray presents an opening fragment from a game Lopez played with Il Puttino (the youth), who was probably Giovanni Leonardo de Bona.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5

Murray notes that 3...Qe7 had been known by Spanish players since the time of Lucena.

4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6

According to Murray, "a move known since Damiano as a means of keeping the White queen out of play."

7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ d5 9.Bxd5+ Nxd5 and Lopez eventually won.

White to move

Several years later, Leonardo played Lopez in Madrid, where he exacted his revenge for the lessons in Rome in 1560.

Lopez did not think highly of Damiano's book, but he immortalized him by naming a well-known opening after him. It is an opening still played by beginners, but it was much more popular among strong players in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. As late as the end of the nineteenth century, it appeared in a master level tournament.

Memorizing Chess Games

My training method is eclectic and varied. While I maintain some semblance of consistency in certain activities, I frequently try new regimens or return to old ones. This past week I have resumed efforts to play through entire games from memory. There are a handful of games that I maintain in my long-term memory though frequent use instructing beginning players, such as Legall de Kermeur's only recorded game (see "My First Chess Book") and a variant of the same idea from Greco. Time spent revisiting Irving Chernev, 1000 Best Short Games of Chess thirty-seven years after my first encounter with this text has quickly planted several full games deep enough in memory that I can play through them without reference to the game score.

In "Fingerprints," I noted, "Rashid Ziyatdinov advocates learning entire games thoroughly." For a few weeks after that post, I worked on the first ten games in GM-RAM: Essential Grandmaster Chess Knowledge (2000). I was able to play through as many of five of those games successfully, but I cannot reproduce any today. There is enough of each in my memory, however, that I am confident that ten minutes review would be sufficient to put any one of these games into my memory cache.

This week I have learned several short games. My method is to read the game score in Chernev, where it is presented in descriptive notation, then close the book and either enter the moves into a database or play them on a physical chessboard. In addition to games in Chernev, the earliest recorded instances of the Petroff Defense have become accessible, however briefly. See "Petroff Defense: Early History." I can confidently reproduce the two Petroff's from Damiano, and the first from Ruy Lopez. From Chernev, I was able to enter the following games directly into a database from memory. I did need to consult the book for the players and location of the third game.

Blake - Hooke [C41]
London, 1891

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 exd4 6.Qxd4 Bd7 7.Ng5 Nc6 8.Bf7+ Ke7

White to move

9.Qxf6+ Kxf6 10.Nd5+ Ke5 11.Nf3+ Kxe4 12.Nc3# 1–0

Taylor,I.O. Howard - N,N [C42]
London, 1862

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nc5 5.Nxe5 f6 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Bf7+ Ke7 8.Nd5+ Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc6 10.Nb4+ Kb5 11.a4+ Kxb4 12.c3+ Kb3 13.Qd1# 1–0

N,N - Bruening [D32]
Berlin, 1907

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.Bf4 cxd4 5.Bxb8 dxc3 6.Be5 cxb2 0–1

After 10.a4+

The quality of the third game hardly merits retaining it in long-term memory. The first game after 8...Ke7 presents a nice checkmate in four position worth knowing well enough to be able to place on the board during a chess lesson. Taylor's alleged announcement of a forced checkmate in eight moves (Chernev, 2) is likely a fabrication (see Edward Winter, Chess Notes 7564). Even so, the game is worth remembering not only for the king hunt that took place, but for the possibilities had Black played 6...Ke7. There are several different possible mating patterns that conclude on moves 11-13. Most remarkable about this game is the foresight needed to find the initial 6.Qh5+ because 6.Bf7+ looks as good until 10...Nxa4, a move that is not possible with the queen on h4 (see diagram).

Perhaps after the ease of memorizing and studying a bunch of these miniatures, I will return to memorizing full games that offer more potential for developing my battle skills against experts and above.

Petroff Defense: Early History

The Petroff Defense (or Russian Defense) has an ancient lineage. It is found in several of the oldest books on modern chess, including the works of Luis Ramírez de Lucena, Pedro Damiano, Rodrigo (Ruy) López de Segura, and Giaochino Greco. These early works present model games that are more a record of analysis than a record of play. In these model games, the Petroff often appears as an opening that cannot be recommended. However, there may have been some veneration of this opening much earlier than commonly thought.

Lucena's Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con ci Iuegos de Partido (1497) does not seem to have influenced subsequent writers. According to H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess (1913), "W. Lewis was the first writer to give an account of the work from the point of view of chess, in his Letters on Chess from C.F. Vogt, translated by U. Ewell, 1848" (787). This work was no translation, but a work that the author refused to acknowledge as his own (see Edward Winter, "A chess Watergate" C.N. 4337).

In contrast to Lucena's lack of influence, Damiano's Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti (1512) was printed in several countries in the sixteenth century, and had a clear influence upon the work of Ruy Lopez. Several of the games in Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez (1561) follow those in Damiano's, but diverge in the last few moves. Games from these texts then appear in Greco's work, although carried forward a move or two further.

Such is the case for the oldest Petroff Defense game found in the ChessBase database. In Big Database 2011, game 57 is attributed to Greco, but matches one copied from Damiano by Joseph Henry Sarratt. One needs access to the archives of the world's best libraries just to see copies of the texts of Lucena, Damiano, and Lopez. However, Sarratt, The Works of Damiano, Ruy-Lopez, and Salvio, on the Game of Chess (1813) is widely available even as a free ebook because Google Books scanned a copy from the New York Public Library. Sarratt asserts that he "has frequently and attentively played and examined" the games in the texts of these authors, and he, "is strongly impressed with the belief that they are calculated to assist in a material degree unpracticed players" (xv). Sarratt's reputation has suffered due to his reputation for errors in his texts. Murray notes:

[Sarratt] introduced his generation to the work of the older masters, Damiano, Lopez, and Salvio, in a series of translations. That, as we now know to be the case, these translations were careless, inaccurate, and incomplete, did not rob them of their value at the time they were made, though this discovery has had a very damaging effect on his reputation as a writer. It is unfortunate that the badness of this portion of Sarratt's literary work should have prevented his successors from recognizing the importance and real merit of his other services to chess.
Murray, A History of Chess, 874.

Among Sarratt's contributions cited by Murray was his advocacy that stalemate should be a draw. Through this advocacy, the London Chess Club adopted a rule that was already standard in other countries.


The Games

Sarratt's notation reflects the state of chess notation in English in the early nineteenth century. It is awkward, but readable to the modern reader. The first game in Sarratt's The Works is presented as two variations (1-5). It is Damiano's record of the Petroff as it may have been played in his day. Damiano's two games show hazards that may befall a careless player of the Black pieces. Greco's sole Petroff carries the first of these games two moves further. Lopez's games 35-37 present three variations that are equal or better for Black (Sarratt, 136-141). Lopez's game scores would seem to suggest that the common belief that Black's 2...Nf6 was held in low regard until the mid-nineteenth century may not be fully accurate.

Below are the game scores from these five early studies of tactics in the Petroff (a name the opening would take on in the nineteenth century when it was revived as a viable alternative for Black). The comments are attributed by Sarratt to Lopez.

(1) Damiano,Pedro [C42]
1512

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 dxe5 8.dxe5 Nd7 9.Nc3 fxe5 10.Nd5 Qd6 11.fxe5 Qc6 12.Bb5 Qc5 13.Be3 +-

(2) Damiano,Pedro [C42]
1512

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 dxe5 8.dxe5 Nd7 9.Nc3 fxe5 10.Nd5 Qd6 11.fxe5 Qc5 12.Be3 Qa5+ 13.Bd2 Qc5 14.b4 Qc6 15.Bb5 Qg6 16.Qxg6+ hxg6 17.Nxc7+ +-

(3) López de Segura,Rodrigo (Ruy)  [C42]
1561

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 dxe5 8.dxe5 Nd7 9.Nc3 fxe5

White to move

10.Nb5 Nf6 Black has the best of the Game

(4) López de Segura,Rodrigo (Ruy)  [C42]
1561

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.f4 dxe5 8.dxe5 fxe5 9.fxe5 Nd7 10.Bf4 g5 11.Bg3 Bg7 Black will regain his Pawn

(5) López de Segura,Rodrigo (Ruy)  [C42]
1561

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 d6 5.Nf3 Qxe4+ 6.Be2 Bf5 7.c3 Nbd7 8.Nbd2 Qc2 Black has the best of the Game.

It is curious that in Lopez's first game, he reaches the same position as in Damiano's games. But, in Lopez White plays differently. Inasmuch as the move given by Damiano appears stronger, it raises a question that can be answered through examination of the original Lopez text. Did Lopez include also the variation that is favorable to White, and Sarratt exclude it to avoid duplication?

Opening Disaster: Damiano's Defense

The 2012 Winterfest Scholastic, a youth tournament that has run for more than ten years, featured a miniature that highlights a not infrequent opening error. The error has a name: Damiano's Defense. Pedro Damiano, although not regarded as a particularly strong player, recognized the weakness of Black's defense of the e-pawn and Ruy Lopez gave the opening his name.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?

 

After White's second move, Black must either protect the e-pawn, or attack White's, as in the Russian defense (2...Nf6). 2...f6 is a terrible way to protect the pawn. Here there are many ways to proceed. I recommend immediately demonstrating the error with a knight sacrifice. Actually, the word sacrifice seems odd here, because White gains a lot for the temporary investment of the horse.

3.Nxe5! fxe5??

If 2...f6 is an error, then 3...fxe5 is the blunder that practically assures White's victory. Possibly the strongest player to ever experiment with the lunacy of 2...f6 was Mikhail Chigorin. Chigorin played 3...Qe7 and that game ended drawn. Chigorin's skill, as well as his phenomenal contribution to chess in Russia, and thus the modern world, is such that my assignment of the question mark to 2...f6 could be viewed as hubris. After 3...Qe7, I cannot find a way for White to maintain the one pawn advantage. While the 2...f6 move creates a weakness, exploiting the weakness is not always as easy as it seems that it should be.

Schiffers,Emanuel Stepanovich - Chigorin,Mikhail [C40]
St. Petersburg 1897

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.Nf3 d5 5.d3 dxe4 6.dxe4 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nc6 8.0–0 Bd7 9.Nc3 Qg6 10.Ne5 Nxe5 11.Bh5 0–0–0 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.Qe2 Bd6 14.Ne4 Nf3+ 15.gxf3 Bxh2+ 16.Kg2 Bh3+ 17.Kh1 Be5 18.Kg1 Bh2+ 19.Kh1 Be5 20.Qe1 Bg4+ 21.Kg1 Bxf3 22.Ng3 Ne7 23.Qe3 Bc6 24.Qxa7 b6 25.Be3 Nf5 26.f4 Nxg3 27.fxe5 Rh1+ 28.Kf2 Rh2+ 29.Kxg3 Rdh8 30.Qa6+ Kb8 31.Bxb6 Rg2+ 32.Kf4 Rh4+ 33.Ke3 Rh3+ 34.Kf4 Rh4+ ½–½

The game on Saturday, however, was played by elementary students. The White player is among the strongest of the area youth, plays in adult tournaments, and has a disciplined study regimen. It was the Black player's first event of the year, and he was rather mismatched in the first round (an ordinary feature of Swiss System tournaments). The rating difference between the players was nearly 500 Elo.

4.Qh5+

Black to move

4...g6

4...Ke7 is the only legal alternative, and should result in 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ d5 (the only move that keeps Black playing).

5.Qxe5+ Be7?

5...Qe7 seems to me the only reasonable move. White maintains a decisive advantage, but Black gets a bit of counterplay if White fails to bring additional pieces into the attack, or responds inappropriately to Black's threats. I offer as an illustration, this quick White win against a master who adopted Black's self-defeating strategy. 5...Ne7 is better than 5...Be7.

Benavides Jojoa,Cristian - Torres,Javier (2259) [C40]
Bogota 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 7.Kd1 Qe6 8.Qxh7 d6 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Re1 Nf6 11.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 12.Rxe6+ Kd8 13.Qf7 c6 14.Rxf6 Kc7 15.d4 d5 16.Bf4+ 1–0


6.Qxh8 Kf7?

It is hard to suggest a reasonable alternative for Black here. Possibly, admitting the loss of the knight in addition to the rook, and preparing Qe7 with the bishop's retreat 6...Bf7 is the main alternative to simply resigning.

White to move

7.Bc4+ Ke8

7...d5 is the only move that averts a forced checkmate.

8.Qxg8+ Bf7 9.Qf7#

Black's play offers a lesson to avoid. White deserves credit for understanding the error of Black's second and third moves, and punishing the errors. Scholastic players are well-advised to learn from this miniature. Black's 2...f6 is shockingly common in scholastic play.