A BDG Fishing Pole?

In Atzerpay's last game he played 15.Ng5, hoping to provoke 15...h6, weakening Black's kingside, while at the same time opening the f-file to give his rook a shot at a sac on f6--which only works, symbiotically enough, because Black did weaken his kingside with h6--a comforting relationship.


In Bird Defense Fishing Pole, Michael Goeller presents a recent game... 

 "...employing my favorite Bird Defense to the Ruy Lopez. For the second week in a row, I found myself sacrificing material for a direct attack on my opponent's king. In this case, I employed what Brian Wall likes to call "the fishing pole" theme: dangling my Knight at g4 for capture in order to open the h-file."

Before continuing here, I recommend you take a look at Goeller's post now, and also his links to several "fishing pole" examples. Heartwarming.


I called Atzerpay's provocation his rope-a-dope strategy. It has a similar idea to the fishing pole, but it's not specifically designed to open the h-file. So I looked for a BDG that went all the way. Our old friend David Gedult did not disappoint--even if he was playing the black pieces.

Short Game, Long Notes

David Gedult had a lot of fun with his notes to his games. This one, played on a train ride between Paris and Grenoble, probably set some sort of wpm (words per move) record.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Gedult David - Deverriere

1-0 (Paris-Grenoble Train)1973

[#] 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 c5 4.Bf4 Qxd4 5.Nd5 [1-0]

Generated by Aquarium

Here I must say that this was my shortest Blackmar-Diemer Gambit — or, in fact, the shortest game I've ever played! The Austrian Freidl, researcher, collector of BDG games, was completely fascinated with this game. For my part, I'm a little less so. In fact, I could box my ears! Also I've called myself all possible names — and for that the German language is especially suited.

Yes, if one just thinks of it, I've played the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit since I960. The answer 4. ... Qxd4 (after 3-... c5 4. Bf4) has been played against me at least a dozen times. Exactly like the worm who sits in the horseradish and believes there's nothing better in the world, I believed that after ...Qxd4 (whether on the third, fourth, or fifth move) that there was nothing better than Queen takes Queen (that our Diemer also believed it is no great consolation for me...) and then Nb5, etc., etc.

But now, I don't know what moved me to play 5. Nd5! — perhaps it was the rattling of the train that induced my gray cells to move faster — this time (it was like a light went on for me). And see: right away (after some consideration) Monsieur Deverriere resigned! (And this demonstrated that Monsieur Deverriere understood something about the game!) It can also be said, after 5. Nd5 Black can play what he wants, a whole, living Rook — the one on a8 — is lost. At any rate, I must express my thanks to Monsieur Deverriere for this 5. Nd5 move — and also to the rattling of the train.

"The BDG, a natural brilliancy"

From the October 1965 issue of Nick Kampars' Opening Adventures:

In the July,1965 issue of "Chess", edited by B.H. Wood, a contest for brilliant games was terminated with the following comment: "Our second great contest for brilliant games of 25 moves or less drew 129 entries from all parts of the world.... we have decided to divide the two cash prizes between three competitors,all from overseas: Dr. R. Cherubim,Saarland, Germany; D. Gedult,Paris,France ; and K. Winterton, Ottawa,Canada" . The following game from this contest was a BDG., a "natural" brilliancy. It was played at the Cercle Cassia, Paris,in March, 1965. Notes are by the winner.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Gedult, David - Mazzoni, Dr. N.

1-0 (Cercle Caissa, Paris) 3/1965

[#] 1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.e4 Transposing into the BDG, which I never fail to employ--at least for the first time--when playing against a master; and it has scored at least 90% for me. 3...dxe4 4.Nc3 e3 A master knows when to hand back the pawn--which he does not need for winning a game against an obscure opponent... 5.Bxe3 Now see how the bishop and f-pawn are badly placed, aren't they? 5...Bf5 6.Bd3 Not because I really intended exchanging pieces, but, as in most such games, when I castle queen's side, I didn't want his bishop staring at my c2, which after 0-0-0 becomes a weak point... 6...Bxd3 7.Qxd3 g6 8.O-O-O Bg7 9.Qd2! Just to disquiet him a bit. 9...h6 10.Nge2 Nbd7 11.Kb1 e5 12.d5 g5 After all, he would like to castle. 13.Ng3 O-O 14.Nf5 Nh7 He smells a rat and would be glad to change the bishop for that damned knight, but I'm not in a hurry. 15.h4 f6 16.g4 Nb6 17.Qd3 Qd7 18.hxg5 hxg5 19.Rxh7 Kxh7 20.Ne7+ f5 21.Rh1+ Bh6 22.Nxf5 Resigns. [1-0]

Generated by Aquarium