[Event "Chessgames.com Friendly Mini"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=441..."]
[Date "2006.04.04"]
[Round "-"]
[White "keypusher"]
[Black "lethe"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1814"]
[BlackElo "1702"]
[TimeControl "432000+172800"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "normal"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5
6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6

(The Normal Position, which I think is pretty good for Black.)

9. Nc3 Na5 10. Bd3 Bg4
11. Be3 Ne7 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Ng3 Nac6 14. Be2 d5 15. e5 Nf5 16. Nxf5 Bxf5 17. Bg5 Qd7

(I am struggling to show compensation here.)

18. Qd2 Qe6 19. Rad1 h6 20. Be3 Be4
21. Ne1 Qg6 22. f3 Bf5 23. Kh1 f6 24. f4 Be4 25. Nf3 fxe5 26. dxe5 Rad8 27. Bxb6 axb6 28. Rf2 Bxf3

(Trading off the mighty bishop can't be right.)

29. Rxf3 d4 30. Bc4+ Kh8
31. f5

(And White is off to the races....)

31....Qg4 32. f6 Nxe5 33. fxg7+??

(...but pulls up lame. 34. Rg3!)

Qxg7 34. Rg3 Qf6 35. Qe2 Nxc4
36. Qxc4

(White is clearly lost here, but Black doesn't finish him off.)

36...c5 37. h3 Qc6 38. a4 Qd5 39. Qc2 Qf5 40. Qd2 Qf4 41. Qd3 c4 42. Qg6 Qf6 43. Qe4 Qf4 44. Qg6 Qf6 45. Qe4 Rfg8 46. Rxg8+ Kxg8 47. Qe2 c3 48. Rf1 Qg6 49. Qe5 Rf8 50. Qd5+ Rf7 51. Rxf7 Qxf7 52. Qd8+ Kg7 53. Qxd4+ Qf6 54. Qd7+ Kf8 55. Qc8+ Kf7 56. Qxb7+ Kf8 57. Qb8+ Ke7 58. Qc7+ 1/2-1/2

(White was very lucky not to lose.)

[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=499..."]
[Date "2006.04.26"]
[Round "-"]
[White "keypusher"]
[Black "thorgils"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1768"]
[BlackElo "1747"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "normal"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5
6. d4 d6 7. O-O Bb6 8. dxe5

(Chigorin tried 8 a4 against Lasker and lost horribly: Chigorin vs Lasker, 1895)

8....Na5? (8....de is Lasker's Defense. White can choose a bad ending with 9. Qxd8+ or a tricky middlegame with 9. Qb3.)

9. Ba3 Nxc4 10. Qa4+ Bd7
11. Qxc4 Be6 12. Qb4 (Trying to induce ...a5 to prevent queenside castling later.)

12...a5 13. Qb5+ Bd7 14. Qd3 dxe5 15. Rd1 (Maybe 15. Nxe5 was better.)

15...f6 !? 16. Nbd2!?

(I felt like I needed to develop, but I hate to block the rook for even a move.)

16....Be6 17. Qe2 c6??

(17...Qd7 18. Nc4 Qa4 19. Nxb6 cb 20. Qb2 is hard to assess: White's queen and bishop are awkwardly placed, but Black still has problems developing.)

18. Nc4 Qc7 19. Nd6+ 1-0

1a) Should be "Ke7" (not "Key")

1b) I wonder if the solution Deighton vs J Blake, 1894 is truly forced, since after 1. Qf6+ Black has 1 ... Kf8 2. Qxh8+ Kxf7 and there's no mate.

During the game I did feel pretty comfortable with my position but I was wondering about my opening, which seemed a bit dubious to me after 8...Bc3, when giving up the exchange is probably the best option. A look through the database seemed to confirm the fact that it is dubious.

However, Fritz does not mind being down the exchange in the opening much, so maybe it is not that bad a line after all. I do have a few major questions:

1.After 5...Bc5 what is best, d4 immediately or 0-0?
2.After 6...exd6 should I then have castled?
3.What is best after 7...Bb4+?

Any comments would be appreciated.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Nxb4!?

if 5.c3 then 5. ...Nc6 transposes back to the 5. ...Bc5 line, but if 5.Nxe5? the response is 5. ...Qf6!

click for larger view

6.Bxf7+ Kf8 and then what? Black is threatening to capture the knight, fork everything on c2 and mate on f2

7.Qh5 Nxc2+ 8.Kd1 Nxa1 9.Bb2 d6! 10.Ng6+ <10.Bxg8 dxe5 > hxg6 11.Qxh8 Qxb2 as after 12.Qxg8+ Ke7 what does White have except for an exposed Black king?

i think it's an interesting "trap" to play if you don't mind playing the 5. ...Bc5 line

Maybe, but the stats are certainly skewed. Morphy and Anderssen didn't exactly face the greatest of opposition, and they played the black side of this a combined 47 times, while they played the white side 109 times. Also, La Bourdonnais and MacDonnell seemed to have played each other a lot with this, and I'm sure that skews them in some way as well.

A) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 and now 3. - Bc5 probably isn't the best move. 3. - Nf6 promises more (e.g. 4.Ng5 Bc5! - Traxler counterattack - or 4.d4 ed 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 d5!)

B) Evans Declined (4.b4 Bb6) is considered good for white and white can play similar line without offering a pawn: 4.c3 Nf6 5.b4 , so why Evans?

C) 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.d4 Na5 7.Nxe5 Nxc4 8.Nxc4 d5 =. No more of it: black has safely equalized. Side lines (7.Bxf7+, 7.Be2) are good in blitz games or rapid chess, but they are unsound or equal at best (well, Anand was shocked and played horribly: Kasparov vs Anand, 1995).

D) Black can capture and hold a pawn if he really wants to (4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5). White gets huge attack, but if he doesn't play accurately, black can survive and win.

My conclusions: If white is trying to play old Evans, black is the side who chooses:

1) Switch into Two Knights and play aggressively
2) Equalize safely
3) Accept gambit and just hope for defence.

A.) 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 f6!? 4.g5! c5?! 5.xf7+ e7 6.b3 is hardly a reason for White to give up on Evan's Gambit (or any other 3.c4 line for that matter)! The Two Knights in general is reasonably promising for White IMO, though of course VERY complex. If everyone would play 3...f6 against me I would take up 3.c4 !

B.) Evan's Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.b4!? b6 5.a4 a6 (5...a5 6.b5 d4 7.xd4 xd4 8.c3 ) 6.a5 a7 7.c3 f6 8.d3 ) is a different (and better!) line than the quiet Italian with b2-b4: 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.c3 f6 5.b4 b6 6.d3 d6 7.a4 a5!=.

C.) I am curious to see your line for Black against 7.e2.

I agree with point D, though I think that a well prepared White player could score quite well below at least, say, 2100 level.

"Evan's Gambit": a gambit that belongs to someone named "Evan". This is wrong.

"Evans Gambit": the gambit invented by Captain Evans. This is correct.

It's both. The use of proper names in chess openings is not consistent; thus we have Lasker's Defense, but the Chigorin System in the Ruy Lopez (not Chigorin's System). I am not sure about this, but I think 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 generally goes by "the Chigorin Defense" and not "Chigorin's Defense."

So there is no hard and fast rule here. But I think calling the OOTD just "the Evans Gambit" makes sense, because people seem to have such trouble when apostrophes and the letter "s" come together. Every time I see someone write "Evan's Gambit" I die a little inside.