Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sometimes a grandmaster...sometimes a BDG

Sometimes a grandmaster who normally wouldn't consider playing the white side of a Blackmar-Diemer plays one anyway--by transposition. We all have seen that.

Take for example the so-called Pöhlmann Defense to the BDG. After 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Black foregoes the usual 3...Nf6 for 3...f5, resulting in a position that is also reached in the Dutch Defense via 1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4


GM Eric Lobron is inactive (on the chessboard) these days. At his peak in mid-1992 he had an ELO of 2625 and was 20th in the world. He twice won the German championships, in 1982 and 1984. Here's his BDG by other means.

Eric Lobron (2585) - Christian Bauer (2465)
Bundesliga, Germany 1996
BDG, Pöhlmann Defense from Dutch Defense

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. f3 a6 6. Qd2 Nc6 7. O-O-O e6 8. fxe4 fxe4 9. Nge2 Be7 10. g3 e5 11. dxe5 Qxd2+ 12. Rxd2 e3 13. Bxe3 Nxe5 14. Bf4 Bd6 15. Bg2 O-O 16. Nd5 Rb8 17. Nec3 Nh5 18. Ne7+ Bxe7 19. Bxe5 Bg5 20. Bd5+ Kh8 21. Bxc7 Ra8 22. Ne4 Bxd2+ 23. Kxd2 Bg4 24. Ng5 Rf2+ 25. Ke3 Raf8 26. h3 Bc8 27. g4 Rxc2 28. Bd6 Re8+ 29. Kd3 Nf6 30. Nf7+ Kg8 31. Nh6+ 1/2-1/2

Actually, that game was just an excuse to sneak in my own BDG with Lobron. The encounter is memorable to me, not just because my opponent went on to such great achievements within a few short years, but also because the game was my first tournament Blackmar-Diemer.

Tom Purser - Eric Lobron
Heidelberg, 1977
BDG, Teichmann Defense

1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Bc4 e6 9. Ne5 Bb4 10. Bg5 Be4 11. O-O Bxc3 12. bxc3 h6 13. Bh4 Bd5 


14. Bd3

14. Bxd5 Qxd5 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Rxf6 Nd7 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Qf3 would have been better, but I was probably afraid of the half-open g-file.

14... Nbd7 15. c4 Bc6 16. Qe1 Nxe5 17. Qxe5 Nxg4 18. Qxg7 Qxh4 19. Qxh8+ Ke7 20. Rxf7+ Kxf7 21. Rf1+ Nf6 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Kf7 24. Qh7+ Ke8


25. Bg6+?

25. Qg6+ Ke7 26. Qg7+ Kd6 27. Rxf6 Qxd4+ (27... Qxh3?? 28. c5+ Kd5 29. Rf5+ exf5 30. Qe5#) 28. Kf1 and Black would have had to work.

25... Kd8 26. Qh8+ Ne8 27. d5 Qg3+ 28. Kh1 Qxh3+ 29. Kg1 Qg3+ 30. Kh1 Qxg6 and 0-1 in a few more moves.