"Bishop in a Hurry"

A few days after posting on the Jerome-ish 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ (see "Offside!" and "The Other Side") I discovered that a similar line of play from the Vienna Opening rather than the Italian Game (a reminiscent reflection of "Godfather of the Jerome Gambit?" Part I, Part II, Part III and Endnote) – 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ – had been addressed in a "Reader's Challenge" at ChessPublishing (

http://www.chesspublishing.com/content/1/puz2.htm):

Reader’s Challenge P2.1.1 referring to M.Adams-P.Motwani, London 1989

The idea of ...Na5 has been mentioned, but would it have been OK for Black to play it even earlier, at move three?

Solution

3...Na5? loses to 4 Bxf7+

! Kxf7 5 Qh5+, intending 5...g6 6 Qe5 (forking the loose black pieces on a5 and h8) or 5...Ke6 6 Qf5+ Kd6 7 d4 and then, for example, 7...Qf6 8 dxe5+ Qxe5 9 Bf4 or 7...Qe8 8 dxe5+ Kc6 9 e6 b6 10 Qd5# or 7...Nc6 8 dxe5+ Nxe5 9 Bf4 Qf6 10 Bxe5+ Qxe5 11 0-0-0+, costing Black his queen.

It's pretty easy to back this analysis up with games, as I have only a handful in my database:

Schelkonogov - Morozenko, corr, 1989: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ Ke6 6.Qf5+ Kd6 7.d4 Nc6 8.dxe5+ Kc5 9.Be3+ Kb4 10.a3+ Ka5 11.e6+ d5 12.exd5 Nce7 13.b4+ Black resigned;

Keizer - Kroes, corr NLD, 1991: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Ke7 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.Nd5+ Kd6 7.d4 Black resigned;

Stalker - Palmer Douglas, Scotland Tch B, 1994: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxe5 Nc6 7.Qxh8 Nf6 8.Nf3 Bh6 9.Qxd8 Nxd8 10.d4 Bg7 11.0-0 d6 12.Re1 Nc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.dxe5 Ng4 15.e6+ Black resigned;

Gutt - Schiller, Bergisch Gladbach (4), 1996: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ Ke6 6.Qf5+ Kd6 7.d4 exd4 8.Bf4+ Ke7 9.Nd5+ Ke8 10.Nxc7+ Ke7 11.Nd5+ Ke8 12.Nc7+ Ke7 13.Qxa5 d6 14.Qg5+ Nf6 15.Nxa8 h6 16.Qg6 Be6 17.Nf3 Qxa8 18.Bxd6+ Kxd6 19.e5+ Kd7 20.exf6 gxf6 21.0-0-0 Qc8 22.Nxd4 Kc7 23.Qxf6 Bg4 24.Nb5+ Black resigned;

McCall - Harvey, Kent vs Essex, Swanscombe, 2001: 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ Ke6 6.Qf5+ Kd6 7.d4 Qe8 8.dxe5+ Kc6 9.e6 Qxe6 10.Qb5+ Kd6 11.Bg5 c6 12.Qxa5 b6 13.Qa3+ c5 14.Nf3 Kc6 15.0-0-0 h6 16.Bf4 Nf6 17.Qa4+ Kb7 18.e5 Ne8 19.Rhe1 g5 20.Bg3 a6 21.Nd5 Ka7 22.Nf6 b5 23.Qa5 Nxf6 24.Qc7+ Bb7 25.exf6 Rc8 26.Rxe6 Rxc7 27.Re8 Rc6 28.Rxd7 Rxf6 29.Bb8+ Kb6 30.Bc7+ Kc6 31.Ne5 checkmate;

Olmos - Esteves, 54th Villa Ballester (5), 2004: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ Black resigned

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"