Antichess Guide - Win 100% Against King’s Pawn - Part 1

You’ve definitely seen the classic chess variant Giveaway or Antichess. The moment of disbelief you may feel when you take the opponent’s king, or the surprise when you click your pawn just to realize you can’t move it for some reason! However, it may come as a surprise that the most common two moves for White, e4 and d4, are both immediate blunders and cost you the game. This blog post will detail all you need to know to win with maximum optimization against many players below 1700. (You do not have to memorize all the lines to their maximum extent in order to win a game; simply memorize to the point when you are comfortable coming up with moves to win the game.) Brace yourself for the technical.

In this blog post, bold text indicates the main line.

King’s Pawn Opening

Many advanced players know not to move their pawns two spaces forward as White. Usually, this is a good technique to use, and many players opt to instead move their pawns one square forward. This intuition is correct; once 1. e4 is played, the game is essentially over.

You know Black is already planning White’s doom.

In this position, one may notice that both the f1-bishop and queen are opened for white. This simple fact, however, gives Black many opportunities to force White’s hand. 1…b5! should be instantly played, forcing 2. Bxb5.

White is already in hot water on move 2.

In this position, I have seen many instances of 2…d5 or 2…Bb7, but 2…Nf6! is the correct response. A very important part of Giveaway chess is knowing when to attack opposing pieces while the opposing side is doing the same, and this move allows Black to avoid White’s bishop after 3. Bxd7 with 3…Nxe4!

Now I wish the website still let you play illegal moves.

Regardless of White’s next move, whether it be 4. Bxc8 or 4. Bxe8, Black should play 4…Nxf2 as taking the bishop would allow White opportunities to use the e4-knight to their advantage.

Get used to seeing pictures instead of plug-in chessboards.

Afterwards, in the case that White plays 5. Kxf2, 5…Qxd2 is the correct response, placing the queen en prise and allowing White to open up their pieces. In this variant, however, that is not the optimal strategy, and Black will aim to punish White severely. However, we will first look at the case in which instead 4. Bxe8 Nxf2 5. Bxf7 is played.

White Goes the Adventurous Path

The position that we have here arose from the following sequence:

1. e4 b5 2. Bxb5 Nf6 3. Bxd7 Nxe4 4. Bxe8 Nxf2 5. Bxf7 Nxd1 6. Kxd1 Qxd2

(If you were wondering how we arrived at moves 5 and 6, taking the queen is much more optimal as it forces White to take back. 6…Qxd2 is then forced.)

What a strange position.

White’s reply must be to take the queen, and any move played by White will be dealt with by 7…Rg8! sacrificing the rook. After the forced 8. Bxg8, 8…e5 is the optimal strategy for all three lines, attempting to sacrifice the e-pawn. 9. Bxh7 is then met by 9…g6! 10. Bxg6 e4! where White is completely lost. Memorization can cease here as improvisation from Black can easily lead to a win.

Who would have guessed that this is one of many forceable lines in Giveaway?

Nevertheless, if you are interested in the closing lines, then we shall continue. Here, the three different lines come into play. If White had captured the Black queen with the knight (i.e., if 7. Nxd2), 11. Nxe4 is possible. However, after 11…Bf5 12. Bxf5 Ba3 13. bxa3 c5 14. Nxc5 Na6 15. Nxa6 Rc8 16. Bxc8 ends the game. (This is all a forced sequence, by the way.)

And it’s just another day in the office for Black.

If not, then 11. Bxe4 is forced for White. If the queen was captured by the knight or king (i.e., if 7. Kxd2 or Nxd2), then 11…Be6 12. Ba8 Bxa2 13. Rxa2 a5 14. Rxa5 Nc6 15. Bxc6 Bc5 16. Rxc5 is once again the end of the game.

It’s been a bad day for White, hasn’t it?

However, there is once again a splitting of the paths. If the queen was captured by the bishop (i.e., if 7. Bxd2) then 13…a5 could be met by 14. Bxa5! where White has some energy. Instead, after 10. Bxg6, 10…Bf5 is optimal, leading to 11. Bxf5 e4 12. Bxe4 Bc5 (NEVER play 12…Ba3 because of 13. Rxa8! Bxb2, where White is actually winning the game) 13. Bxa8 Bxg1 14. Rxg1 Nc6 15. Bxc6 a5 16. Bxa5 and once again, the game is over.

Ouch.

Full Notation

Be prepared for the complicated. (This won’t be able to work in the built-in analysis board as illegal positions are not able to be inserted.)

1. e4 b5 2. Bxb5 Nf6 3. Bxd7 Nxe4 4. Bxe8 Nxf2 5. Bxf7 Nxd1 6. Kxd1 Qxd2 7. Kxd2 (7. Bxd2 Rg8 8. Bxg8 e5 9. Bxh7 g6 10. Bxg6 Bf5 11. Bxf5 e4 12. Bxe4 Bc5 13. Bxa8 Bxg1 14. Rxg1 Nc6 15. Bxc6 a5 16. Bxa5#) (7. Nxd2 Rg8 8. Bxg8 e5 9. Bxh7 g6 10. Bxg6 e4 11. Nxe4 (11. Bxe4 Be6 12. Ba8 Bxa2 13. Rxa2 a5 14. Rxa5 Nc6 15. Bxc6 Bc5 16. Rxc5#) 11… Bf5 12. Bxf5 Ba3 13. bxa3 c5 14. Nxc5 Na6 15. Nxa6 Rc8 16. Bxc8#) 7… Rg8 8. Bxg8 e5 9. Bxh7 g6 10. Bxg6 e4 11. Bxe4 Be6 12. Ba8 Bxa2 13. Rxa2 a5 14. Rxa5 Nc6 15. Bxc6 Bc5 16. Rxc5#

We will return to the original line in our next edition. Please contact me if you find any errors in this article, and be sure to try this technique out the next time you play!