ANTI-Vienna Game | WIN with the Bardeleben Variation!
#vienna #mainline #paulsenattack #bardeleben #rooksac
The Vienna Game is a great opening, and my favourite to play with White. Curiously, I don't tend to play AGAINST the Vienna that often, but when I do, I always get a smile! I had this game recently against a slightly higher-rated British player and I used my usual anti-Vienna approach!
Firstly, play Nf6 on move 2 (Falkbeer Variation) to entice White into playing the Vienna Gambit (3. f4), and then drag the game into the Main Line (3... d5), and then the Bardeleben Variation against White's Paulsen Attack, which is the most frequent way that White will play the Main Line (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5). As I discovered in my compilation of all f4/f5 chess openings, the Bardeleben Variation in the Vienna Game: Main Line has a win odds ratio of 1.31 for Black at the beginner-intermediate level, which is amazing! Stockfish evaluation of the position at high depth is either equal, or very slightly favouring Black.
The basic idea for Black in this position is that we want to prevent White from holding onto the centre and their e5-pawn. If White manages to place a pawn on d4 defending e5, they can consolidate behind their centre, develop, and then launch an attack. Indeed, this is why when playing White in the position, the Heyde Variation (which is the immediate d4) is my preferred approach, even though Stockfish evaluates it as less accurate.
In this game, White plays (6. d3), the most accurate response, but it now allows Black a simple tactical plan. The d-pawn blocks the vision of White's queen on f3 of their c3-knight. Which means after (6... Nxc3), they must recapture with their b-pawn (7. bxc3), doubling the pawns on the c-file and damaging the pawn structure. And then, to prevent White from developing a strong centre complex of pawns, we play (7... d4)!
At the end of move 10, we see the advantage of the Bardeleben Variation! White's queenside defences are damaged, and they've lost control of their e-pawn and e-file, while their king is still exposed in the centre!
I don't necessarily play the next part of the middlegame accurately, with my mistake (18... c6) allowing White's queen to infiltrate into my position. However, the position is difficult to play for White, and they were never able to make significant headway, with their clock running down to only a couple of minutes. In comparison, I remained comfortably over 10 minutes for much of the game (this was a 15+10 game of rapid). It wasn't that I was playing fast - it was simply that the position was easier for Black to play as my king was largely safe, while White's king remained exposed in the centre with it being forced to move and lose the right the castle.
On move 25 and White having less than 2 minutes left on the clock, the mood changes. White pulls their queen out of the attack, probably thinking that they needed the extra piece so king defence would be easier to calculate under time pressure. This gives me an opportunity to counterattack, and on move 29, I made a bold gambit (29... Rxe4!?), trading one of my rooks for White's bishop! I had calculated that White had found a powerful attacking idea with their previous move (29. Be4) - once White attacked down the h-file with a queen or rook, I would have serious problems with king defences given the pins. This now neutralised that potential idea!
I knew in the game that this was probably a mistake. On analysis, Stockfish labels this a blunder as White technically has a [+M20] forced checkmate line! However, that required White to not capture my rook, and immediately find Qf6+. They don't, and my gambit now pays off!
With less than a minute on the clock, White could have forced a draw by threefold repetition, but perhaps they thought they still had a win. My goal with the rook-sacrifice was to clear the centre of the board of pawns, stripping bare the files and fully exposing White's king. White had found an absolute fork of my king and bishop and opted to take the material (33. Qxb7??). This was the final blunder - very understandable with 37 seconds left.
I don't find and play the quickest or neatest checkmate, but in the game, I was confident that I had a mating net. It was a bit inelegant, but after a short shuffle, I ladder-mate White's king on the h-file. GG!
The big takeaway from this game is to try to play the Bardeleben Variation in the Vienna Game Main Line, as an anti-Vienna approach with Black! It's effective, fun, and will improve your skills as a Vienna Game player!
