End It

Short games, often wins by checkmate, provide good tactical lessons on how to finish a contest quickly. Although White, in the following match, does a stellar job grabbing the full point in less than a dozen moves, he likely saw even faster ways to do so, once he reviewed his play. Follow along for the ride!

berria - SlowDave
standard, FICS, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5

This nameless attempt to avoid the Jerome Gambit - and grab the "two Bishops" after 4.Bb3 Nxb3 - has been covered many times in this blog (see "Opening Discussion, Not Quite Closed"), but the following game shows a new idea for the defense.

As with many miniature games, White should play over the game and its notes, so that the attacker is ready for an unusual variation of this unusual defense.

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5

Best for White is 6.d4 d6 7.Qg4+. 

6...Qe7

A rare move. Its always a good idea for Black to put his Queen on e7 or f6, right?

7.d4

A couple of the few examples of this particular line in The Database continued:

7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Qxa5 Nxe4 9.Qxc7 Qd6 10.Qc4+ Qd5 11.Qxd5+ (11.Nd4+!) 11...Kxd5 12.O-O Nd6 13.Nc3+ Kc6 14.Ne5+ Kb6 15.Nd5+ Ka5 16.d3 g6 17.Bd2+ Ka6 18.Nc7+ Kb6 19.Nxa8+ Kc5 20.Nc7 Kd4 21.Bc3+ Kc5 22.Nxd7+ Kc6 23.Bxh8 Kxd7 24.Nd5 Ke6 25.c4 Nf5 26.Rfe1+ Kd6 27.Re8 Ng7 28.Bxg7 Black resigned, diegolli - Mattlaff, FICS, 2010;

7.Qf5+ (best) Kd6 8.Nc3 (8.Nc4+ Nxc4 9.Qd5#) 8...c6 9.d4 g6 10.Qf4 Ke6 11.d5+ cxd5 12.exd5+ Kd6 13.O-O Qxe5 14.Qb4+ Kc7 15.Qxa5+ Kb8 16.g3 d6 17.Bf4 Qf5 18.Qd8 Be7 19.Bxd6+ Black resigned, EAPL - Falx, FICS, 2008; also

7.Qh3+ Kd6 8.Qd3+ Kc5 9.Qe3+ Kb4 10.a4 Qxe5 11.Qa3+ Kc4 12.d3+ Kd4 13.Qc3# 

7...d6 8.d5+ 

Or 8.Qf5#; or 8.Qg4+ Kf6 9.Bg5#; or 8.Qh3+ Kf6 9.Qf3+ Bf5 10.Qxf5#. 

8...Kf6 9.Bg5+ 

Or 9.Qg5#; or 9.Qf3+ Kxe5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Na3 Qf6 12.Bc3+ Nd4 13.Nc4# 

9...Kxe5 10.Bxe7+ Black resigned