While I continue to ponder the game Salov,V - Vancouver, Friedel 1991 (1-0, 22) in The Database, I thought I would share a game that recently appeared online, with the same opening moves.
thecheckmatelogic - Sermichar
5 0 blitz, ChessFriends.com, 2025
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+
The earliest example of this opening idea that I have found is in the aforementioned game. (See "Jerome-Knightmare" for some thoughs on the line.)
Questions.
Was "V. Salov" top grandmaster Valery Salov?
Was his opponent actually a player named "Vancouver", or was the grandmaster, perhaps, playing a demonstration game (or games) in Vancouver, Canada?
Was "Friedel" the location where the game was played, or does it refer to Frederick Friedel, co-founder of the chess database company, ChessBase? Looking at my somewhat out-of-date Big Database (2016), I can not find a Salov game with those opening moves.
3...Kxf7 4.Nf3
4.d4 led to Salov,V - Vancouver, Friedel, 1991.
4...d6 5. d3 h6 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Kg8
Both Kings have been tucked into safety.
Black has a piece for a pawn, and is better - but this is a 5-minute game, and things can change.
9.Qg3 Nc6 10.c3 b6 11.Nd2 a5 12.Nf3 Qd7
The focus is on g7, which is, for now, well-defended.
13.Nh4 Rh7 14.Nf5 d5
Black strikes back in the center.
15.Be3 d4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Bf4 Re8 18.Rac1
White also focuses on c7 - and then, on to g7.
18...Nb4
There was a lot to consider. The defender had 18...g5, when 19.Rxc6!? or 19.Bxg5!? would have complicated things - but Black still would have been better.
19.Rxc7 Qb5
Black counter-attacks with pressure on White's d3 pawn.
Stockfish 16.1 suggests, instead, that he hold on with 19...Qd8, for example 20.Nxh6+ Rxh6 21.Bxh6 Nh5!? 22.Qg6 Qxc7 23.Qxe8 Nf6 24.Qe6+ Qf7 25.Qxf7+ Kxf7 26.Bg5 Nd7 27.Rd1 Nxa2 28.Kf1 Be7 29.Bf4 Nc5 30.Bc7 Nb3 31.Bxb6 a4 32.g3 Nc3!? 33.Re1 Na2 34.f4 Bb4 35.Re2 Nac1 36.Rc2 Nxd3 37.Ke2 Ndc1+ 38.Kd1 Nd3 39.Ke2 Nbc1+ 40.Kd1 Nb3 41.Ke2 Nbc1+ and will draw by repetition of position.
Perhaps Bobby Fischer did say "Long analysis, wrong analysis", but it is worth playing through Stockfish's line.
20.Bxh6 Nxd3
Again, the computer explicates: 20...Qe5 21.Bf4 Qe6 22.Nxd4 Nh5 23.Nxe6 Nxg3 24.fxg3 Rxe6 25.Rc8 g5 26.Bxg5 Rf7 27.d4 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Kf7 29.e5 Nxa2 30.Kf2 when White has 4 pawns for a piece and is better.
Egads.
21.Bxg7
White breaks through.
21...Bxg7 22.Rxg7+ Kh8 23.Rxh7+ Nxh7 24.Qg7 checkmate
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