The "Red Baron's" favourite Chess Opening - The Schliemann Defense!?
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was an ace fighter pilot with the German Air force in WW1. Flying in his all-red Fokker Dr.I, and with 80 air combat victories (the highest amongst all German pilots), he would be greatly feared by the Royal Air Force. The air force would give him his feared nickname: "The Red Baron," a warranted title as he came from a prominent Prussian aristocratic family:
Here is a replica German Tri-plane (because of its 3 wings) known as the Fokker Dr.I. A plane like this would have been something that the Red baron would have flown
Such was his success in the skies, "The Red Baron" was prominent war legend amongst the German forces. In 1917 he would receive Prussia's highest military honour, "The Blue Max."
A portrait of the infamous "Red Baron" wearing the highest military honour: The "Blue Max"
During his convalescent leave, on the instructions of the Luftstrietkrafte (Air force), as a largely propaganda move, he would write an autobiographic sketch called The Red Fighter Pilot. The book would cement him a war hero amongst the German Army.
In 1918, "The Red Baron," was such a legend that there were fears that if he was killed in combat it could greatly dampen German morale. Sadly on 21 April 1918, at 11am, The Red baron was shot down was with a 303. bullet through his heart and lungs. It is believed that the Baron was trying to rescue his cousin (also a fighter pilot) from shots being fired from the No. 209 squadron of the Royal Air Force. With his death came the end of the war legend known as the "Red Baron."
Now at the this point in the blog you might be asking yourself, what does "The Red Baron" have to do with chess? Absolutely nothing! It is just a cool story about a German war-hero! However, there is a small reason for this pointless tangent: if there were a famous person who would fit the personality of certain chess opening, in my view, "The Red Baron" would fit the somersaulting aerial dogfight that is the Schliemann Defence:
Our first dogfight is one between Aron Nimzowitsch and an obscure chess player known simply as Schroeder. Admittedly this was an offhand game played in a coffee-house where hyperactive overly aggressive play is guaranteed, but still shows some of the craziness of this opening
- Black is often on the attack in most variations, with the open f-file he often gets a quick king-side attack
- The opening steers the game into a completely different direction compared to the main-line Ruy Lopez positions.
- Although nearly 5000 games exist from this position on the chess.com database, it is still considered a side-line, so white may not be as well prepared against this line like he would be in other much more popular main-line Ruy Lopez positions.
- Despite its' sharp reputation, white does not have too many good options to handle this opening. I have already covered the other lines on my Youtube channel which you can find here
- The draw percentage (apart from 4.exf5?! line due to a draw sequence line) is very low. Often this is used as a weapon by black when you wants to go for the win
- This move has been seen at super grandmaster level with players like Carlsen and Aronian having played it on the black side with some success.
Down-sides
- Most positions are very complicated and messy which is not to everyone's taste
- The exposure of f5 can jeopardise the safety of the black king in some lines
- Whilst a refutation has not been truly found, the Nc3 line if known by white, can lead to white gaining a slight edge - although there are still ways that black can complicate the position
The most fun in this line comes from the 4.Nc3 main-line. Here both players have chances to swing at each other. I have selected some of my favourite games from the Nc3 line, but first a game of my own!
White strikes first, but it is black who manages to land the knockout punch
