1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗c4 ♘f6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O ♘xe4 6.♖e1 d5 7.♗xd5 ♕xd5 8.♘c3

The Max Lange attack is:

1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗c4 ♘f6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O ♗c5 6.e5!?

8...Qc4 is a rare move and I don't think it's the best; although the idea to have e6 overprotected seems natural enough, the pin of the d-pawn is an unnecessary nuisance. I'd rather stick with the usual sontinuation 8...Qa5, but then again, who am I to judge?

9...Be6 is vastly superior over 9...Be7, because in case the latter is played, the king will have to keep defending the bishop.

10.Bg5 is an attempt to prove 8...Qc4 wrong; white wants to prevent 0-0-0, hoping to regain his pawn later, possibly together with some attack.

Since 11...Qb4 would fail miserably to 12.Nd5, the following moves are pretty much forced.

14.Nxf6+ is a very good idea: since all black's pieces are clustered together on the queenside, white launches an immediate and fast kingside attack.

20.Re5 is a bit of a show-off move: 20.Re4 would have been at least as effective, without the rook-sac. The ending should probably look something like 21.Qh5+ Kd7 22.Qf7+ Kd6 23.Nd2 with the idea 24.Ne4 A very nice finish!

As you can see I have the impression that Qc4 might be the decisive error. Anybody a suggestion to improve n the game?

By the way, how are things here? Are all the 'old' guys still here? Sneaky, acirce, suenteus po 147? Are the caissars still running? What happened during my absence?

<What happened during my absence?> The usual - lots of interesting analysis and comments, lots of good fellowship, making fun of players' names, pompous debates about who's the greatest player of all time or famous chess scandals or politics, people posting 20-move long computer-generated continuations from quiet positions to figure out which side has the advantage...