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Many beginners find 1.d4 d5 ‘not so lucky’ with the black pieces and resort to other defences from the book. A common option in such a scenario includes the oft played Dutch defence 1. d4 f5.
White’s response to this is usually c4, g3 or Nf3 – but a more dangerous move that Black needs to watch out for is Bg5, as we could see from the 1896 game between Frank Teed and Eugene Delmar.
The game opens with the above mentioned variation.
Delmar wanted to get that Bishop out of there and went with 2. … h6 3.Bf4 g5 4.Bg3 f4. Delmar would have felt that he got the Bishop quite easily when all White had to do was go with 5. e3, threatening Qh5# ! To keep the game even, Delmar defended that threat with 5. … h5. Teed calmly continued with 6.Bd3, forcing Delmar to go with Rh6.
Before the End
At this point, the black rook is trying to defend against both the white Queen and the Bishop. Teed continued with Qxh5+, forcing Rxh5 and Bg6#. 1 – 0.
The End
The most interesting part about this game is that Eugene Delmar is considered one of the masters of the game from that era – he wasn’t a newbie.
A variation of this game can be traced back to Rome 1619 for one of Greco’s games against an amateur player – another game that ends in 8 moves. The game started with white opening up and Black going for a fianchetto. 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3. Bd3
Greco vs NN
This is when Greco’s opponent felt a need to play f5, given he felt that the e pawn was protecting the g pawn and the rook behind it. Gioachino Greco, however, went ahead and took the f pawn.
Ta da!
The advancement of the f pawn for black not only didn’t give the advantage but has also made the area surrounding the King vulnerable. Greco’s opponent could have gone with Nf6, saving the game, but instead went for the g pawn. Alas. The game ended thus.
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Nf6 7.gxh7+ Nxh5 8.Bg6#
The End 2.0
Professional players are warned about these dangers at a beginner level in Chess Schools, but in a slightly different way: “If you haven’t got the influence to protect h5, g6 and f7 squares, moving the f pawn like a boss is a no-no”. This is why.
