Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: Mastering a new opening
T. D. Harding, in his 1979 Colle, London and Blackmar Diemer Systems, describes the Blackmar-Diemer as objectively dubious. Christoph Scheerer, in the preface to his 2011 The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, highlights the gambit's historically polarizing nature. In reply to my question as to why the gambit isn't played at top-level tournaments, Alon Cohen conceded that the gambit has a reputation for being unsound but insisted that theory he has pioneered challenges that classification. Lending support to Cohen's endorsement is the Lichess popularity graph for the Blackmar-Diemer, which indicates that the gambit is experiencing a surge in interest since mid-2023.
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| Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Accepted, Mainline |
1. d4 d5
2. e4 dxe4
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. f3
where Black accepts the first gambit pawn, White deploys his queenside knight, Black deploys his kingside knight, and White offers Black a second pawn on f3.
The way I see it, there are two benefits to learning the Blackmar-Diemer. The first is that, unlike the slow and positional Queen's Gambit, which I have been committed to exclusively heretofore as White, the Blackmar-Diemer is tactical and sharp. The tactical patterns arising from Blackmar-Diemer middlegames should prove useful when facing positions with tactical opportunities that I'm less accustomed to seeing in conventional Queen's Gambit middlegames. The second is that, as a Queen's Gambit practitioner, I have not had to deal with defenses like the French and the Caro-Kann as White. Should Black decline the Blackmar-Diemer and instead continue 2...e6 or 2...c6, I will have plans ready for those transpositions.
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| Puzzle 1 |
10.Nxf7
10.0-0
10.Qh5
10.Bxc6
10.Nxf7 has the advantage of forcing Black's king to f7 because of the queen-and-rook fork. But after 10...Kxf7 11.Qh5+ g6, I don't see that White has a crushing continuation.
10.0-0 would be an idea to prepare 11.Nxf7, and after 11...Kxf7 White would win Black's queen with 12.Bc7+. But Black has time for 10...Nxe5 and White's plan fizzles out.
10.Qh5 threatens mate with 11.Qxf7#, but after 10.g6 White's queen has to retreat.
10.Bxc6 has the advantage of removing the threat of ...Nxe5, since White's knight on e5 is a powerful attacker. After 10...Bxc6 and 11.0-0, now White's threat of 12.Nxf7 is formidable. But after 11...f6, is that the end of White's attack? White can continue 12.Qh5+, forcing 12...g6. Then after 13.Nxg6 attacking Black's rook and 13...Rg8, 14.Ne5 forces 14...Rg6 and White wins the exchange with 15.Nxg6 hxg6.
My answer: 10.Bxc6.
Solution: 10.Nxd7. After 10...Qxf7, Black's knight is pinned and White attacks it with 11.d5. Black counterattacks with 11...a6, but after 12.dxc6 White has a pawn en-route to promotion and is targeting Black's queen and indirectly the king. My answer is wrong because after 13.Nxg6 Black has 13...Qd5 threatening mate.
February 27 update:
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| Puzzle 3 |
11.Qxc7
11.Bb5+
11.Qb5+
11.Rd8+
11.Qxc7 is threatening mate with 12.Qd8# or 12.Rd8#, but Black has multiple ways to defend, e.g. 11...Nc6 or 11...Bd7. Supposing 11...Nbd7, White can add pressure with 12.Bb5, but Black sufficiently defends d7.
11.Bb5+ leaves Black with 11...Nbd7 and 11...c6 as the only moves averting immediate mate. After 11...Nbd7, the move 12.Bc6 looks winning for White. 11...c6, meanwhile, also looks like a poor reply, because White continues 12.Qxa8.
11.Qb5+ can be countered at least five different ways: 11...c6, 11...Nc6, 11...Qc6, 11...Bd7, and 11...Nfd7.
11.Rd8+ forces 11...Kxd8, and that is the end of White's attack.
My answer: 11.Bb5+.
Solution: 11.Bb5+. After 11...Nbd7, White continued 12.Bc6 and Black resigned.
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| Puzzle 2 |
11.Qxd5
11.Nc7+
11.0-0-0
11.Bc4
11.Qxd5 will prompt either 11...axb5 or 11...Qxd5+. If 11...axb5, White continues either 12.Bxb5+ or Qxd8+. 12.Bxb5+ forces Black to reply 12...Bd7 to avoid losing his queen. White can continue 13.0-0-0, when Black can't reply 13...Bxb5 because 14.Qxb5+ wins Black's queen. Supposing 11...axb5 12.Qxd8+, 12...Kxd8 is forced, after which White continues 13.0-0-0+. Black replies 13...Ke8, and White continues 14.Bxb5+ winning Black's bish after 14...Bd7. Alternatively, if 11...Qxd5 White plays a move like 12.Bd3, and after 12...Qxg2 13.Nc7 it doesn't look like White has compensation for his lost queen.
11.Nc7+ leads to 11...Nxc7. Then after 12.Qxd8+ Kxd8 White can continue 13.0-0-0+, but Black has 13...Bd7 and White doesn't have a way to exploit Black's pinned bish.
11.0-0-0 double-attacks and pins Black's knight on d5. If Black captures with 11...axb5, anticipating an exchange of knights, White's options are 12.Bxb5+ and 12.Qxd5. 12.Bxb5+ prompts 12...Bd7, and after 13.Qxd5 Black's problem is he can't reply 13...Bxb5 because 14.Qxb5 and White wins Black's queen -- but he also can't defend against White's triple attack on d7. Supposing White continues 12.Qxd5, Black exchanges queens with 12...Qxd5 13.Rxd5, but now Black has 13...Bd7 and it looks as though he's fine.
11.Bc4 builds pressure on Black's d5-knight. Black can defend it with 11...e6, which also activates his dark-square bish. White can continue 12.0-0-0 or 12.Nc7+. After 12.0-0-0 Black captures with 12...axb5, and after 13.Bxb5+ Black has a safe position with 13...Bd7. If White continues 12.Nc7+, Black can't capture with 12...Nxc7 because of 13.Qxd8# and so must play 12...Ke7 or 12...Kd7, whereupon White captures the rook on a8 with 13.Nxa8.
My answer: 11.0-0-0.
Solution: 11.Qxd5. After 11...axb5, play continued 12.Bxb5+ Bd7 13.0-0-0 and Black resigned. The variation 11...Qxd5 also fails owing to 12.Nc7+. For some reason I thought 11...Qxd5 came with check in my original analysis; I had set up the position on a chessboard and White's king was probably on the wrong square. It should be noted that 11.0-0-0 still leaves White with an advantage of +1.7.
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| Puzzle 4 |
11.Nxg5
11.Nc7+
11.Bb5
11.Qe1
11.Nxg5 prompts either 11...Qxg5 or 11...exd5. 11...Qxg5 is met with 12.Nc7+, forcing Black's king to move and winning a rook. 11...exd5, however, is less clear. White can give a check on the e-file, e.g. with 12.Qe1+, but Black retreats his bish with 12...Be7 and White's attack grinds to a halt.
11.Nc7+ prompts 11...Qxc7, allowing 12.Nxg5 with a double attack on f7. If 12...f6, White has 13.Nxd6 attacking Black's queen and dangerously exposing the king on the e-file. After Black moves the queen, e.g. 13...Qb6 threatening a discovered check, White can continue 14.Nxg2+ and Black's king is running out of safe squares.
11.Bb5 pins Black's knight on d7. However, the knight is triple-defended and Black can easily kick my bish with 11...a6 or capture my knight on d5 with 11...exd5.
11.Qe1 pins Black's pawn on e6, denying 11...exd5. After a move like 11...0-0, though, White doesn't have any serious threats.
My answer: 11.Nc7+.
Solution: 11.Nxg5. Either 11...exd5, in which case 12.Nxf7 Qb6 13.Qe1+ and Black resigned; or 11...Qxg5 12.Nc7+ Ke7 13.Nxa8. In the first line, I calculated Qe1+ Be7 as though Black's bish was still on the board.
February 28 update:
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| Puzzle 5 |
11.Qxb8+
11.Qc6+
11.Qxa6
11.Qxa7
11.Qzb8+ is already devastating for Black. Black's only moves are 11...Nxb8 and 11...Bc8. If 11...Nxb8, then 12.Nxc7# is mate; and if 11...Bc8, then 12.Qxc8# is also mate.
My answer: 11.Qxb8+.
Solution: 11.Qxb8+, and Black resigned.
March 1 update:
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| Puzzle 6 |
12.Qxc6+
12.Qxc6+ forces 12...bxc6, after whch 13.Ba6# ends the game.
My answer: 12.Qxc6+.
Solution: 12.Qxc6+. After 12...bxc6, White continued 13.Ba6# and won the game.
March 2 update:
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| Puzzle 7 |
12.Nxf7
12.Qh5
12.Nxd7
12.Rxf7
12.Nxf7 forces open the f-file with an attack on Black's queen. Black can reply 12...Rxf7 or 12...Qe8. If 12...Rxf7, then 13.Bxe6 pins Black's rook and White can chop it on the next move. If 12...Qe8, then still 13.Bxe6 threatening discovered check and paralyzing both Black's king and Black's queen.
12.Qh5 triple-attacks Black's pawn on f7, but 12...Nf6 and 12...g6 look like reasonable defenses.
12.Nxd7 leads nowhere after 12...Bxd7 or 12...Qxd7.
12.Rxf7 forces open the f-file, but it is not as forcing as 12.Nxf7 because Black can recapture with 12...Rxf7 or chop with 12...Nxd5.
My answer: 12.Nxf7.
Solution: 12.Nxf7, although not the sequence of moves I had calculated. In the game, after 12...Rxf7 White continued 13.Qxe6 threatening 14.Qxf7. Black replied 13...Nf6, and the game continued 14.Qxf7+ Kh8 15.Rxf6 Qxd4+ 16.h1 Qxf6 17.Qe8+, and Black resigned. What I missed in my calculation was 13...Nf6, blocking the White rook's access to the f6 square.
March 3 update:
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| Puzzle 8 |
12.Qe4+
12.Bxe7
12.Qh4+
12.Nxd5
12.Qe4+ forks Black's king and bish, but Black can block with 12...Bf5. White can give another check with 13.Qh4+, from which the king must retreat with 13...Kg8. White captures on e7 with 14.Bxe7, and Black recaptures with 14...Qxe7. If White recaptures with 15.Qxe7, then 15...Qxe7 and that's the end of White's attack. Instead, White can continue 16.Ng5, threatening to sac an exchange with 17.Rxf5 in order to deliver checkmate on h7, but after 16...Bg7 Black survives with a material advantage.
12.Bxe7 Qxe7, and 13.Qe4 Bf5. White has no compelling moves.
12.Qh4+ forces 12...Kg8. Then White can create a square for the night with 13.Bxe7. After 13...Qxe7, White threatens mate in one with 14.Ng5. Black, needing to create an escape square for the king, can reply 14...f6, but vacating f7 does not help since White's knight guards that square. Neither does vacating f8 with 14...Rd8, since White can continue 15.Qh7+ with mate on the next move.
My answer: 12.Qh4+.
Solution: 12.Qh4+, followed by 12...Kg8. But in the game White continued 13.Nxd5, and Black resigned. The reason my variation loses is after 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Ng5 Black has 14...Nf6 guarding the h7 square.
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| Puzzle 9 |
12.Bxh7+
12.Qh3
12.Qe4
12.Rf3
12.Bxh7+ forces open the h-file with tempo and leaves Black two legal moves: 12...Kh8 or 12...Kxh7. After 12...Kh8, White can continue 13.Qh3 preparing mate in two. Black can try 13...Qf6, but 14.Bg6 forces 14...Kg8, after which 15.Qh7# is mate. After 12...Kxh7, White can continue 13.Qe4+ forking Black's king and knight.
12.Qh3 threatens mate in one, but Black has multiple ways of stopping it.
12.Qe4 threatens mate in one and attacks Black's knight on c6. Black cannot defend against both threats, ergo White will win the knight with, for example, 12...g6 13.Qxc6.
12.Rf3 prepares 13.Rh3, but Black has enough time to defend against White's attack. For example, 12...h6 13.Re3 e5.
My answer: 12.Qe4.
Solution: 12.Qe4, after which the game continued 12...f5 13.Qxc6 Bd7 14.Qf3 Bd7 15.a3 Ba5 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Bc4, and Black resigned.
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| Puzzle 10 |
12.Nxd5
12.Bxd5
12.Nxg6
12.Nxd5 is the obvious move. Black can't recapture with the queen, and 12...cxd5 loses the queen to 13.Ba4+.
My answer: 12.Nxd5.
Solution: 12.Nxd5, after which the game continued 12...cxd5 13.Ba4+, and Black resigned.
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