Simplicity in the Gunderam Defense to the BDG

Simplicity is the bane of the gambit player. The more Black can trade down pieces in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, the closer he comes to an endgame up a pawn. So it stands to reason that White usually prefers to keep the game complicated. I've lost too many BDGs to count where Black wins by that approach. So that would lead one not to play my sixth move in this game. But in this case it worked out.

I never said it was easy

I didn't promise you a rose garden. Diemer said the BDG would make a new man of you, put hair on your chest, whatever. I'm not sure what he thought it would do for female chess players. Anyway, the BDG really doesn't win every time. We're adults here. I can say that.

Here's the latest example, straight from today's TWIC. Diemer used to call this variation with 5...Bf5 the Tartakower Defense. He loved to attach GM names to BDG defenses, even when the connections were somewhat tenuous. And I love Tartakower, one of my favorite GMs. But Gunderam did a lot of grunt work on the Bf5 lines, and really deserves the credit, for what it's worth. He was a thorn in Diemer's side, or perhaps some other anatomical spot, until the end. God bless them both, and this wonderful, foolish game we call chess.

What happened to 2011?

Seems like it was here just yesterday. And suddenly you look around and it’s February 2012.

The last thing I remember is standing on a mountaintop overlooking my hometown in Tennessee. The next morning I awoke in the intensive care unit in a Chattanooga hospital. Turns out I had the good luck to collapse with an EMT standing nearby. He, my sister, and some visiting cousins got me into an ambulance and then in a helicopter airlift to the hospital.

I’m not sure what happened, but I’m recovering nicely (but slowly), thanks. Unfortunately we’ve had other family emergencies over the past couple of months. Things like that happen to all of us, but they seem to gang up on old folks. (My hat’s off to Korchnoi, still ticking at 80, to make 81 next month.)

But I’m back now and hope to get in a few posts each month. And I apologize to readers—if any of you are still out there—for not getting some sort of notice up before this.

I’ll start back with an easy game. It appeared in a recent TWIC. Shades of Milner-Barry and George Thomas.

And yet another rook sac on the knight at f6 brings a quick knockout. The patent on this expired years ago.

A rook sac again

“The only good rook is a working rook!” —Samuel Reshevsky.

Did you ever notice how many BDG games are decided by rook action down the open f-file?

Have you no shame?

I freely give you one pawn, and you turn right around and snatch another?

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.

New Books, Real and Imagined

I've about given up hope for the long promised new book on the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit from Everyman Chess. Since I first wrote about it here almost a year and a half ago  it's been delayed again and again. Some time ago I wrote the publishers, asking about the status, but received no reply.

So much for imagined.

Now for the real. Guido De Bouver, from Belgium, has produced Attack with the Blackmar Diemer, A Computer Analysis of the Teichmann, Gunderam, O'Kelly and Vienna lines in the Blackmar Diemer gambit. The book is in English, 160 pages, with figurine algebraic notation.  From the author's description:

This is the first book in a series of volumes on the Blackmar Diemer gambit. Their purpose is to provide in-depth analysis of the various lines. Since Diemer's gambit most often leads to wild open positions, the systematic use of a silicon monster (all analysis in this book was performed using Rybka 3 32-bit using the free Arena GUI) will provide essential insight in the evaluation of the resulting unbalanced positions.

The reader will note that the book does not provide a systematic overview of all white's options. Instead, I choose a number of lines that particularly fit in with Diemer's ideas and that provide complications that will help the gambiteer in the over the board play.

The book is available now from the author, in either a hard copy or a protected PDF version. Details are available at http://www.humbeekseschaakclub.be/overzicht.pdf, where you may view a table of contents, several extracts, and ordering information.

Computer analysis, don't you just love it? More to say on that coming up.

BDG Variations and Master Games

In a recent post I recommended Knut Jarle Hjørnevik's site on BDG variations. Knut Jarle continues to update his site and has recently added a PGN file of a large number of master BDGs for download. That alone is worth another visit.

Here’s a recent BDG by Knut Jarle with his notes.

Hjørnevik,Knut Jarle - Madland,Kristoffer
Rogalandsmesterskapet (1), 14.11.2008

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 



The Tartakower-Gunderam Defence 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Nxg4?
 


Based on a calculation error by Kristoffer. He simply overlooked 9.Nf2! [7...Bg6! is probably the best move in this position, but there are also interesting moves like Be4 and Ne4 available!] 8.Nxg4 Qh4+ 9.Nf2 Nc6 10.Bb5 0-0-0 11.Bxc6 bxc6 



12.Be3 [12.Qe2 Rxd4 13.Be3 Rd6 14.Qa6+ was an alternative, but I was afraid that my own king would end up too vulnerable.] 12...c5! 13.Qe2 cxd4 14.Qa6+



14...Kb8 [14...Kd7? 15.0-0-0! should win for White] 15.Qb5+ Kc8 [15...Ka8? 16.Qc6+ Kb8 17.Nb5 Bb4+ 18.c3 Ba5 19.Nxd4 Bb6 20.0-0-0+/-] 16.Qa6+



And we agreed a draw in this position. [The continuation 16.0-0-0 dxe3 (16...dxc3?? 17.Qa6+ Kb8 18.Qxa7+ Kc8 19.Qa8#) 17.Qa6+ is nothing more than a draw.] 1/2-1/2.

Play through and download this game here.

One Last BDG from the US Amateur Team East

Okay, one more game from the US Amateur Team. Last one. Positive.

Barnes,John (1847) - Nicely,Aaron T (1766)
US Amateur Team-ch East Parsipanny USA (2), 14.02.2009
BDG, Tartakower-Gunderam Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Qf3 c6 9.g5 Qxd4
 

More common Black moves here are 9...Nd5/d7/g8 and 9...Bh5. The text gives up a piece for a pawn mass that might prevail in an endgame.

10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.gxf6 gxf6 12.Be3 Qe5

 

[12...Qh4+ 13.Bf2 Qg5 14.Ne4 Qa5+ 15.c3 Nd7 16.Nxf6+ Nxf6 17.Qxf6 Rh5 18.Bd3 Re5+ 19.Kd2 Rd8 20.Kc2 Rxd3 0-1 Adams,S-Tan,K/Singapore ch prelims 1996/[Adams] (26)]

13.0-0-0 Nd7

[13...Qxe3+ 14.Qxe3 Bh6 15.Qxh6 Rxh6 16.Ne4 Ke7 17.Nd6 b6 18.Nc8+ Ke8 19.Bg2 f5 20.Rd2 Kf8? 21.Rd8+ 1-0 Peilen,M-Andre,K/cr 1986 (23)]

14.Kb1 Rh4 15.Bg2 Bg7 16.Rhe1 Qa5 17.Qg3 Rb4 18.Qd6 Rd8 19.Rd3 Bf8 20.Qg3 Ne5 21.Rxd8+ Kxd8 22.Rd1+ Ke8 23.Bc1 Nc4 24.b3+- 

[24.Qb8+ is crushing. Black's Queen is immobilized by the need to prevent mate at d8; for example: 24...Ke7 25.b3 Bg7 a) 25...f5 26.Bg5+ f6 27.Bxf6+ Kxf6 28.Qxf8+ Kg5 29.Qe7+ Kg4 30.h3+ Kh5 31.Bf3+ Kh6 32.Qh4+ and mates.; b) 25...c5 26.Bf4 (threatening Bc7) 26...Ne5 (26...e5 27.Nd5+) 27.Bxe5 fxe5 28.Nd5+ exd5 29.Qxe5+ mates; 26.a3 Nxa3+ 27.Bxa3]

24...Ne5 25.Qf2 Bg7 26.Qd2 Rg4 27.Bb2 Qc7 28.Ne4 Kf8 29.h3 Rh4 30.Qf2 

[30.Bxe5! fxe5 31.Qg5 wins the Rook.]

30...Rh5 31.Qxa7 Nd7 32.Qa8+ Nb8 33.Ba3+ Kg8 34.Bd6 1-0

To play through the games or download PGN file go here.

Repairing the Blackmar-Diemer?

Now and then a line suffers a theoretical blow, made known in a new book, and then the BDG player has to do his best to find a novelty that repairs the damage. This is true for any opening, but when a BDG player ignores such a gap, he risks a lot more than a Queen’s Indian player. A case study: how to mend a critical BDG variation.

So writes Stefan Bücker in his latest column at ChessCafe.com. The line he sets out to rehabilitate is this: 1 d4 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 c6! 5 Bc4 exf3 6 Nxf3 Bf5! in the O'Kelly Defense, but which also transposes from the Gunderam and Ziegler.

This has always been a tough nut to crack. Stefan gives it a heroic try, and at the very least provides White some ideas, Black a lot to think about. See what you think. The column is here. Highly recommended.

Master and Grandmaster, BDG and Caro-Kann

I haven't posted anything for a while. Linares has taken all my allotment of chess time. It finished up yesterday, with GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who first won the tourney 18 years ago, and GM Alexander Grischuk tied with eight points in 14 rounds. Grischuk had three wins to Ivanchuk's two and that was used to break the tie, rather than the more usual S/B system. I watched the games live online and gained a new appreciation for the veteran Ivanchuk.

But back to the the Blackmar-Diemer. Peter Webster was the first master I ever heard of who frequently played the BDG. He quit tournament play years ago for health reasons. But here's an interesting game from one of his simultaneous exhibitions.

Peter B. Webster - Anonymous
Elm Grove WI simul, 1988
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. Bg2 e6 9. Ne5 c6 10. h4 h5?

This position is also reached in the Gunderam Defense after 1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. g4 Bg6 8.Bg2 c6 9. h4 h5?

11. Nxg6 fxg6 12. Qd3 Kf7? 

13. g5 Ng4 14. Be4 Bd6 15. Bxg6+ Kg8 16. Ne4 Qc7 17. O-O Nd7 18. Bf7+ Kf8 19. Bxe6+ Ke7 20. Rf7+ Kxe6 21. Qb3# 1-0

The Webster game is entertaining on its own, but I wanted to show it here to compare it with some of the themes in this game by the big guys:

Karpov, Anatoly - Hort, Vlastimil
Bugojno, 1978
Caro-Kann

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Ne5 Bf5 8. c3 e6 9. g4 Bg6 10. h4 h5?

11. g5 Nd5 12. Nxg6 fxg6 13. Qc2 Kf7?

14. Rh3 Ne7 15. Bc4 Nf5 16. Rf3 Qd7 17. Rxf5+ gxf5 18. Qxf5+ Ke7 19. Qe4 Re8 20. Bf4 Kd8 21. Qe5 Rg8 22. O-O-O g6 23. Re1 Bg7 24. Qb8+ Ke7 25. Rxe6+ 1-0

In both games Black made similar errors, h7-h5?, leading to the white square weakness, and then Kf7?, trying to hold the g6-pawn. Karpov had to run the Rook up to h3 to get it over to the f-file, but since the f-file was already open in the BDG, Webster could get it there in one move by castling. There are other similiarities and differences, but I'm too tired from watching Linares to mention them.

Nikolajs Kampars

I wrote this for the August 1983 issue of BDG World. Today I reprint it on the 36th anniversary of Kampars' death. The sketch is by Rob Rittenhouse.


 "The most imaginative player I ever corresponded with; a modest man; a truly great character." Nice words, and as they say, unsolicited -- all describing the man once called "the American Diemer," Nikolajs Kampars. Kampars died on August 5, 1972. This August issue seemed an appropriate time to remember him, his games, and a few of his contributions to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. I have always regretted that I discovered the BDG too late to have known or corresponded with Kampars.

My information on his life is limited. Originally from Latvia, he evidently came to the United States in the early 1950s after having lived for a time in Austria. There he was acquainted with Alfred Freidl; in fact the two played together in a 1948 tournament which Kampars won. One paragraph in a 1967 letter from Kampars to Freidl tells some about his background, much about his character.

If you should publish my games, dear friend, than refer to me simply as N. Kampars. It is true that I am a lawyer, that I attended the university in Riga, and that I have my diploma. But I have not worked at my profession for thirty years, and what use is an academic title to me when I work in a bakery in the USA? I would also have difficulties with my friends at work if I were to say I am a doctor. Whoever wants to be known in chess circles as professor, architect, lawyer, and so forth--let them have their fun. Not I.


Kampars settled in Milwaukee, and apparently quickly became active in chess there, winning 'the city championship in 1955. In his book, Diemer included the first 16 moves of one of Kampars' games from that event, with the comment, "the first Blackmar Gambit, since A. E. Blackmar, in the USA?" Probably not, but was it Kampars' first here? His opponent, by the way, was also fond of playing the BDG.
N. Kampars - O. M. J. Wehrley, Milwaukee 1955, Vienna Defense.

In February 1962 Kampars began his magazine Blackmar - Diemer Gambit. It originally appeared as a four page insert in the Latvian magazine, Chess World, and concentrated on the BDG (and closely related openings) almost exclusively. With the January 1964 issue, Kampars began to publish independently of Chess World. At the same time he expanded his magazine to include openings other than the BDG, and renamed it Opening Adventures. From then until failing health forced him to discontinue publication with the May 1967 issue, Kampars insured that this modest little magazine was true to its name. There were indeed delightful adventures in its pages: gambits of all sorts and sizes, and still plenty of BDGs, of course.

Although by all accounts a modest man, Kampars nevertheless often published his own games, sometimes annotated by then Senior Master (now Grandmaster) Edmar Mednis.
N. Kampars - J. Blakeslee, Correspondence 1963, Rasa-Studier Gambit

In the next game Black defends well through 20 moves, but then locks himself out of any counterplay.
N. Kampars - C. C. C. Harding, Correspondence 1964/65, Bogoljubov Defense

Kampars did much to popularize the BDG through his writings, but he made other contributions as well. His name lives on in BDG literature in the gambit he originated in the Vienna Defense, one of the sharpest lines in an opening overrun with sharp lines. However, I suspect he might most wish to be remembered for yet another accomplishment: the First BDG World Correspondence Championship. It was his idea -- Anders Tejler has said it was his dream -- and it came to pass in September 1965, when 276 players from 25 countries began play in 40 preliminary sections. Seven years and over 2,000 games later, (now IM) Georg Danner of Austria emerged the winner. Kampars participated in the preliminary and intermediate rounds. Here is one of his games.
M. Peilen - N. Kampars, 1st BDG World, 1968/69 Gunderam Defense

Kampars did not live to see his dream concluded. When he died, almost three years before the final round ended, the tournament was renamed the Nikolajs Kampars Memorial Tourney. It was a fitting memorial to the man Alfred Freidl has rightly called "an enduring champion of the BDG."