The moves defining Alapin’s Opening are 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2. It is an opening not regularly seen in tournament play. In fact, I have seen only one book that covers this exclusively cover this opening, Alapin’s Opening by Denis Druash, published in 1984.
This rarity of this opening is due to its several shortcomings. One is the inability of the King’s Knight to threaten, or even take a pawn or piece, on e5. Whites’ King Bishop also cannot immediately travel to e2, d3, c4, or b5 Instead White must lose a tempo (usually Ng3), in order to free his bishop. Finally, a personal observation. This move, for an artist, of which I do part-time work, looks atheistically unpleasing, and lacking in both tension and drama. You don’t want to use this diagram if you wish to promote chess with awe-inspiring images.
Let’s get back to the opening.
Black has at least two reasonable (and good) responses to 2.Ne2.
One is the simple 2…d5, a move that both occupies and threatens the center. After all, the reasoning goes, if White doesn’t want to control the center, then perhaps Black should do it.
Black could also try 2…Nf6, which often gives Black the advantage. But Black still has to be careful; White seems to do very well with a very weird King’s Gambit after 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4.
We’ll take a brief look at other Black responses before proceeding with 2…d5 and 2…Nf6 just to whet your appetite.
ALAPIN
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2
1) 2.Ne2
2) 2.Ne2 d5
3) 2.Ne2 Nf6
4) 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alapin – 1
2.Ne2
Mieses-Janowski
Match
Paris, 1895
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Bc5 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Be3 Re8 7.Bc4 Bb4 8.f3 d5 9.Bd3 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Bxd4 dxe4 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.fxe4 Qh6 14.e5 Nc6 15.Nd5 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Rxe5 17.Nc7 Rb8 18.Bc4 Bf5 19.Qf3 Bd6 20.Rae1 Rxe1 21.Rxe1 Qxh2mate 0-1
Alapin-Albin
Berlin International
Germany, 1897
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Qh4 3.Nbc3 Bc5 4.g3 Qf6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nd5 Qe5 7.Bg2 Na6 8.Bf4 Qh5 9.Nxd4 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 Bxd4 11.Rxd4 d6 12.Bf1 Ne7 13.Bxa6 Nxd5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Rxd5 cxb5 16.Rxb5 O-O 17.O-O b6 18.Rd1 Bg4 19.Rd2 Bf3 20.Bxd6 Rfe8 21.e5 g5 22.h3 h5 23.Rb3 g4 24.Rxf3 gxf3 25.Rd3 f6 26.Rxf3 fxe5 27.Rf5 e4 28.Rg5+ Kf7 29.Rxh5 e3 30.fxe3 Rxe3 31.Kf2 Rae8 32.Rh7+ Kg6 33.Rxa7 Re2+ 34.Kf3 Rxc2 35.b3 Kf5 36.Rc7 Rd2 37.Bf4 Rd3+ 38.Kf2 Ra8 39.Ke2 Rd5 40.Rc2 Rh8 41.h4 Kg4 42.Rd2 Re8+ 43.Kd1 Rc5 44.Rd6 b5 45.Rd4 Kf3 46.b4 Rc3 47.Kd2 Rc6 48.Rd3+ Kg4 49.Rd5 Kf3 50.Rc5 Ra6 51.Rxb5 Ra3 52.Re5 Rd8+ 53.Kc2 Rxa2+ 54.Kb3 Rh2 55.h5 1-0
City of London C.C.-Anthenaeum
corres., 1897
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nc6 3.Nbc3 Bc5 4.Ng3 d6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.Nh5 O-O 8.Nd5 Nxe4 9.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 10.Ke2 Bg4mate 0-1
Manko-Jankovic
Germany, 1900
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Bc5 3.f4 Qf6 4.c3 Nc6 5.g3 Nh6 6.Bg2 Ng4 7.Rf1 Nxh2 8.fxe5 Qxf1+ 9.Bxf1 Nf3mate 0-1
Hannes Reinup-D. Ross (2291)
NATO Ch.
Rynia, Poland, Aug. 16 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nc6 3.Nbc3 Nf6 4.g3 Bc5 5.f3 a6 6.a4 d6 7.b3 Be6 8.Ba3 Ba7 9.h3 h5 10.f4 exf4 11.Nxf4 Nd4 12.d3 Qd7 13.Bg2 O-O-O 14.Bb2 h4 15.g4 Rde8 16.Nce2 Nxe2 17.Qxe2 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.O-O-O f6 20.Rhf1 Rhf8 21.Rf5! Bc6 22.Qf3 Qe6 (One big problem in Black’s position are his bishops. They are on ineffective diagonals. Better for him, for his bishop placement and other problems, is 22…Qe7 with the idea of Bd7 and advancing his queen-side pawns as he has enabled his c7-pawn to also move forward and his queen can invade White’s castled position in the future.) 23.g5 Re7 24.gxf6 gxf6 25.Qh5 Be3+ 26.Kb1 Bg5 27.Rg1 Be8 28.Qf3 Bc6 29.c4 b5?! 30.Bc1 bxa4? 31.Bxg5 axb3 32.Rxf6 1-0
M. Alihodzic (2074)-A. Hadzovic (2212)
Sarajevo, June 19 2013
1.e4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Ne2 d6 5.h3 f5 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nbc3 O-O 8.O-O Qe8 9.exf5 Bxf5 10.Be3 Qh5 11.Bxc5 dxc5 12.Nc1 Qg6 13.g4 Bxg4 14.hxg4 Nxg4 15.f3 Ne3 16.Qe2 Nxf1 17.Kxf1 Nd4 18.Qe4 Qh5 19.N3e2 Nxf3 20.Ng3 Nd4+ 21.Kg1 Qd1+ 22.Kh2 Nxc2 23.Rb1 Rf2 24.Nge2 Ne1 25.Nc3 Qh5+ 0-1
Jens Ove Fries Nielsen (2359)-Adrien Demuth (2551)
GRENKE Chess Open
Karlsruhe, Germany, Mar. 31 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nbc3 exd4 6.Nxd4 Nxe4 7.Nxe4 Qe7 8.Bb5 Qxe4+ 9.Kf2 Bg4 10.Qxg4 Qxd4+ 11.Be3 Qxb2 12.Rab1 Qxc2+ 13.Be2 f5 14.Qf3 O-O-O 15.Rhc1 Qe4 16.Qxe4 fxe4 17.Bg4+ Rd7 18.a4 a5 19.Rb5 Be7 20.Rcb1 b6 21.Bxb6 Rf8 22.Ba7 Bh4+ 23.g3 Kd8 24.Rb8+ Ke7 25.Rxf8 1-0
Alapin – 2
2.Ne2 d5
Gratzsch,Tanicaud, Schellenberg – Hennenberg, Scholl
Dresden Chess Club, 1893
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Bc5 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.cxd4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qe7 7.e5 Ne4 8.Nbc3 Nxd2 9.Qxd2 O-O 10.a3 Bxc3 11.bxc3 d6 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Ng3 Nd7 14.Be2 Nf6 15.O-O c5 16.Bd3 Be6 17.Be4 Rab8 18.f4 Rfd8 19.f5 Bd5 20.Bc2 Qc6 21.Rae1 Rbc8 22.Rf2 cxd4 23.cxd4 Qa6 24.a4 Bc6 25.Qd1 Rd7 26.Rd2 Rcd8 27.Qa1 Qc4 28.Red1 Nd5 29.Be4 Qxa4 30.Ra2 Qb4 31.Rxa7 Nc3 32.Bxc6 Nxd1 33.Qxd1 (33.Bxd7 Qe1+ 34.Nf1 Qf2+) 33…Rxd4 0-1
Alapin-Caro
Berlin, 1895
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Bc5 3.f4 d6 4.c3 Bg4 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb6 7.Nbc3 Nf6 8.h3 Bxe2 9.Bxe2 d5 10.exd5 (10.e5 Ne4) 10…Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.Bf3 Qb5 13.a4 Qb4+ 14.Bd2 Qxd4 15.Qe2+ Kd8 16.O-O-O Nd7 17.Rhe1 c6 18.Qe7+ Kc7 19.Bc3! Qxf4+ 20.Kb1 Qf5+ 21.Be4 Qe6 22.Bc2! Qxe7 23.Rxe7 Rad8 24.Bf5 1-0
N.N.-Canal
Blindfold Game
New York, 1935
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nbc3 Qa5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Nb4 7.Bd2 Bf5 8.Rc1 Bxc2 9.Rxc2 Nd3mate 0-1
J. Phillips-S.P. Johnston
Chicago, n.d.
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.c4 c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 6.a3 Bc5 7.b4 Bd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Be2 Bf5 10.d3 O-O 11.O-O Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2 Bxd3 13.Qxe5 Re8 (14.Qc3 Bxf1 15.Kxf1 Qd1+) 0-1
Bo Jacobsen (2269)-IM Ljubomir Ljubojevic (2565)
Groningen
Netherlands, 1970
1.g3 e5 2.Bg2 Nc6 3.e4 Bc5 4.Ne2 (A roundabout way of reaching the Alapin.) 4…Nf6 5.c3?! d5 6.b4 Bb6 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Ba3 Bg4 9.O-O Nf4! 10.gxf4 Qd3! 11.Re1 O-O-O! 12.b5 Na5 13.Bb4 Nc4 14.a4 exf4 15.a5 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 Ne3 17.Na3 Nxd1+ 18.Raxd1 f3 19.Nc1 Qf5 20.Bh1 Qf4 0-1
Robert G. Hartoch-Gert Ligterink
IBM II
Amsterdam, July 19 1975
1.g3 e5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.e4 Bc5 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nbc3 Be6 =/+ 10.O-O O-O 11.Na4 Re8 12.h3 Qf6 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.b3 Ndb4 15.Bb2 Bd5 16.Nf4 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Rad8 18.Qf3 Nc2 19.Rad1 N2xd4 20.Bxd4 Rxd4 21.Rxd4 Qxd4 22.Rd1 Qf6 23.Nd5 Qxf3+ 24.Kxf3 Rd8 25.Ke2 Rc8 26.Ne3 Kf8 27.f4 b5 28.Nd5 Re8+ 29.Kd3 Rd8 30.Kc3 Ne7 31.Ne3 Rxd1 32.Nxd1 Nc6 33.Ne3 Ke7 34.g4 Ke6 35.Nf5 g6 36.Ne3 Ne7 37.Kd4 b6 38.b4 f5 39.a3 c5+ 40.bxc5 Nc6+ 41.Kd3 bxc5 42.gxf5+ gxf5 43.a4 Nb4+ 44.Kc3 bxa4 45.Kc4 a3 46.Kb3 a2 47.Kb2 Nd3+ 48.Kxa2 Nxf4 49.h4 0-1
Jason S. Davies (2048)-Shaun R. Willenberg
Commonwealth and South African Open
South Africa, June 25 2011
1.e4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Ne2 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 Bg4 7.d3 Qd7 8.a4 a5 9.Na3 Bh3 10.Nc4 h5 11.Bg5 Nh7 12.Be3 h4 13.f4 Bxe3+ 14.Nxe3 hxg3 15.hxg3 Nf6 16.f5 Ng4 17.Nxg4 Bxg4 18.Qd2 f6 19.Rad1 Qf7 20.Kf2 Qb3 21.Rh1 O-O-O 22.Ra1 Qb6+ 23.Qe3 Qxb2 24.Bf3 Bxf3 25.Qxf3 Rxh1 26.Rxh1 Qa2 27.Qg4 Qf7 28.Rh7 Rg8 29.Ke3 Ne7 30.d4 c6 31.Kd3 b5 32.axb5 cxb5 33.d5 Kb7 34.Kc2 Nc8 35.Nc1 Nb6 36.Qe2 Ka6 37.g4 0-1
GM V. Ivanchuk (2738)-GM M. Carlsen (2832)
Blitz Game, July 2 2017
GCT Blitz YourNextMove
Leuven, Belgium, July 2 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 Qxd5 6.Nbc3 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Ndb5 Na6 9.Bf4 O-O 10.f3 Re8+ 11.Be2 Be6 12.O-O-O Bxa2 13.Rhe1 Nh5 14.Bd2 Be6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Nd4 Bd7 17.Bxa6 bxa6 18.Bg5 Bxg5+ 19.Nxg5 Nf6 20.Nb3 h6 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.Rxd7 Nf6 23.Rdd1 Kf8 24.Nc5 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Rxe8+ Kxe8 27.Nxa6 Kd7 28.Nc5+ Kd6 29.Nd3 c5 30.Kd2 c4 31.Nf4 Kc5 32.h4 a5 33.g4 Nd5 34.Ne2 g6 35.c3 Kd6 36.f4 h5 37.g5 a4 38.Ke1 Ne3 39.Ng3 Ng2+ 0-1 (And yes, Black is the current World Champion.)
Alapin – 3
2.Ne2 Nf6
Taubenhaus-Hanham
New York, 1893
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.Ng3 Bc5 4.Bc4 d6 5.c3 Qe7 6.O-O Nc6 7.d3O-O 8.Nd2 Bb6 9.Nf3 Nd8 10.Nh4 g6 11.Bg5 Ne6 12.Qd2 Nxg5 13.Qxg5 Nd5 14.Qh6 Nf4 15.Ngf5 gxf5 16.exf5 Rd8 17.Rae1 Rd7 18.Ng6 Qd8 19.Nxf4 Qf8 20.Qxf8+ Kxf8 21.Nd5 Rd8 22.g4 c6 23.Nxb6 axb6 24.Bb3 Kg7 25.d4 exd4 26.cxd4 Kf6 27.Kg2 Rg8 28.Kf3 Bd7 29.Kf4 h6 30.Re3 Rae8 31.Rfe1 Rxe3 32.fxe3 d5 33.e4 dxe4 34.Rxe4 b5 35.h4 b6 36.Re1 Rg7 37.d5 c5 38.d6 c4 39.Bc2 Rg8 40.Re7 Bc6 41.g5+ hxg5+ 42.hxg5+ Rxg5 43.Rxf7+ Kxf7 44.Kxg5 b4 45.Bd1 b5 46.Bh5+ Kf8 47.Kf4 Bd5 48.Bd1 c3 49.bxc3 bxc3 50.a3 Ke8 51.Bc2 Kd7 52.Ke5 1/2-1/2
H.G. Daniel-John Levi Clark
New York State Chess Association
Rochester, Aug. 24 1910
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nc6 3.Ng3 Nf6 4.Nc3 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Be2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Bb2 Be6 10.d4 f5 11.f4 exf4 12.Rxf4 Bg5 13.Rf3 Na5 14.Qf1 Qd5 15.c4 Nxc4 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 17.Qxc4 Bxc4 18.Rxf5 Rxf5 19.Nxf5 Re8 20.h4 Bf6 21.g4 Re4 22.g5 Bd8 23.d5 g6 24.Nh6+ Kf8 25.Kh2 Rxh4+ 26.Kg3 Re4 27.Kf3 Bxd5 28.Kg3 Bxg5 29.Rf1+ Ke8 30.Ng4 Ke7 31.Bf6+ Bxf6 32.Nxf6 Re5 33.Nxh7 Bxa2 34.Nf8 Bf7 35.Nh7 Rf5 36.Re1+ Be6 37.Re4 Rh5 38.Nf8 Kxf8 39.Rxe6 Kf7 40.Re4 Rc5 0-1
U. Nicolas-Pomar Salamanca (2345)
Madrid, 1943
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.Nbc3 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.Na4 Bb4+ 6.c3 dxc3 7.bxc3 Be7 8.Ng3 d6 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.O-O O-O 11.f4 Re8 12.Bb2 Bf8 13.Qd2 Ng4 14.Rf3 Bd7 15.c4 Ne7 16.Nc3 Ng6 17.Nd5 c6 18.h3 cxd5 19.hxg4 Bxg4 20.cxd5 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Qh4 22.Ne2 Qh3 23.Rf1 Be7 24.Nd4 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Qh4+ 26.Kg1 Nxf4 27.Nf5 Qg5+ 28.Kh1 g6 29.Qh2 Qh5 30.Nh6+ Kf8 31.Qxh5 Nxh5 32.f4 Ng3+ 33.Kg2 Nxf1 34.Bxf1 f6 35.Kf2 Kg7 36.Ng4 h5 37.Ne3 Rac8 38.Kf3 Kh6 39.e5 fxe5 40.fxe5 dxe5 41.Bxe5 Bg5 42.Bd4 Bxe3 43.Bxe3+ g5 44.Bb5 Rxe3+ 45.Kxe3 Rc5 46.d6 Rxb5 47.Kd4 Rb1 0-1
Bakonyi-Benko
Budapest, 1948
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.Nbc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nxd5 Qxd5 6.Nc3 Qd8 7.Bc4 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.d3 Nc6 10.f4 exf4 11.Bxf4 Nd4 12.Nd5 Bd6 13.c3 Nf5 14.Qf3 Be6 15.Rae1 c6 16.Ne3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Re8 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.d4 Qd7 20.Bxe6 Rxe6 21.Qh3 Rae8 22.Rxe6 Qxe6 23.Qxe6 Rxe6 24.Kf2 f5 25.Re1 Rxe1 26.Kxe1 g5 27.Ke2 Kf7 28.Ke3 Ke6 29.c4 Kd6 30.Kd3 h6 31.Ke3 1/2-1/2
Alapin – 4
2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4
Charousek-Englander
Kaschau, Apr. 1894
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 d6 4.Nbc3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxe2 6.Bxe2 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Bc4 Nd4 9.d3 c6 10.Be3 Ne6 11.Ne2 a6 12.Ng3 exf4 13.Bxf4 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Be5 O-O 16.Qh5 Bc5+ 17.Kh2 g6 18.Qg4 Ne3 19.Qxe6 Nxf1+ 20.Rxf1 fxe6 21.Bxe6+ Rf7 22.Rxf7 Qe8 23.Rf6+ Kg7 24.Rf4+ Kh6 25.Rh4+ Kg5 26.Rg4+ Kh6 27.Nf5+ gxf5 28.Bf4+ Kh5 29.Rg5+ Kh6 30.Rg8+ Kh5 31.g4+ fxg4 32.Bxg4+ Kh4 33.Bg5mate 1-0
Alapin-Chigorin
Vienna International
Austria, 1898
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.Nbc3 Nc6 4.f4 exf4 5.d4 Bb4 6.d5 Nxe4 7.Bxf4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ne7 9.Qd4 Nf6 10.c4 d6 11.Ng3 Nf5 12.Nxf5 Bxf5 13.Be2 O-O 14.O-O Qd7 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.cxd3 Rfe8 17.h3 Nh5 18.g4 Nxf4 19.Rxf4 Re2 20.Rf2 Qe7 21.Raf1 f6 22.Rxe2 Qxe2 23.Rf2 Qe5 24.Qxe5 fxe5 25.Rb2 b6 26.Kf2 Rf8+ 27.Ke2 Rf4 28.Rb1 Kf7 29.Rg1 Kf6 30.Rg3 Kg5 31.a3 h6 32.Re3 Kh4 33.Kd2 Rf2+ 34.Kc3 Kg5 35.Kb3 Kf4 36.Re4+ Kf3 37.c5 bxc5 38.Ra4 Ke2 39.Rxa7 Kxd3 40.Rxc7 e4 41.a4 e3 42.a5 e2 43.Re7 Rf1 0-1
Alapin-Leonhardt
Ostend International
Belgium, 1905
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nc5 6.d4 Ne4 7.Nd2 f5 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Nf4 Bf5 10.c3 c6 11.Be2 Be7 12.Bg4 Qc8 13.Bxf5 Qxf5 14.Qb3 g5 15.Nh5 O-O 16.Be3 b5 17.a4 b4 18.Ng3 Qg4 19.c4 dxc4 20.Qxc4+ Kh8 21.Qc2 b3 22.Qe2 Bb4+ 23.Kd1 Qe6 24.Nxe4 c5 25.Nxg5 Qg6 26.h4 cxd4 27.h5 Qc2+ 28.Qxc2 bxc2+ 29.Kxc2 dxe3 30.Kd3 Nc6 31.Kxe3 Nxe5 32.Rh4 Be7 0-1
Alapin-Leonhardt
Vienna International
Austria, 1908
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nc6 3.Nbc3 Nf6 4.f4 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.fxe5 Nxe5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.d4 Nc6 9.c3 Bd6 10.Nf4 Qg5 11.Qe2+ Ne7 12.Qb5+ Qxb5 13.Bxb5+ Bd7 14.Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.O-O g6 16.Nd3 f5 17.Bf4 Bxf4 18.Nxf4 Rae8 19.Rfe1 Nc8 20.Nd5 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Rf8 22.Kf1 c6 23.Nf4 Nd6 24.Ne6 Rf7 25.Ng5 Rg7 26.Re3 Nc4 27.Re2 Re7 28.g3 Rxe2 29.Kxe2 Nxb2 30.Nxh7 Ke7 31.Ng5 Nc4 32.Nf3 Ke6 33.Kd3 b5 34.Ng5+ Kf6 35.Nf3 a6 36.Ke2 Ke6 37.Kd3 a5 38.Ng5+ Kf6 39.Nf3 a4 40.Ke2 Ke7 41.Kd3 Ke6 42.Ng5+ Kf6 43.Nf3 g5 44.Ke2 g4 45.Nh4 Nd6 46.Kd3 Ne4 47.Ng2 Ng5 48.Ne1 Ke6 49.c4 Nf3 50.Nxf3 gxf3 51.h4 bxc4+ 0-1
Alapin-Suechting
Vienna International
Austria, 1908
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nc5 6.d4 Ne4 7.Nd2 Bf5 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.Ng3 Qh4 10.Be3 Nc6 11.Qd2 Nb4 12.Bb5+ c6 13.Ba4 Bg6 14.O-O Qg4 15.c3 Na6 16.Bd1 Qd7 17.Nh5 Nc7 18.h3 Ne6 19.Bg4 O-O-O 20.Rf2 Bxh5 21.Bxh5 g6 22.Be2 h5 23.Raf1 Rh7 24.b4 Re8 25.Bd3 Qe7 26.Rf6 Nd8 27.Bg5 Ne6 28.Rxf7 Qxg5 29.Qxg5 Nxg5 30.Rxf8 1-0
Kurt Pahl-Friedrich Saemisch (2200)
Swinemunde, Poland, 1930
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nc5 6.d4 Ne4 7.Nd2 Ng5 8.Nf4 Nc6 9.c3 Ne6 10.Nf3 Be7 11.Bd3 Nxf4 12.Bxf4 Be6 13.Qb3 Na5 14.Qa4+ c6 15.Qc2 h6 16.Nd2 Qd7 17.a4 Bh4+ 18.g3 Be7 19.h4 O-O-O 20.h5 Nc4 21.Nf1 f6 22.a5 fxe5 23.dxe5 Qc7 24.b3 Nxe5 25.Bf5 Qd7 26.Ne3 Bd6 27.O-O Rhf8 28.Qf2 Bxf5 29.Nxf5 Rxf5 30.Qxa7 Bb8 31.Qd4 Rxh5 32.a6 Qh3 33.a7 Qh2mate 0-1
Jose Fernando Cubas (2438)-Helgi Ass Gretarsson (2514)
Bled Ol.
Slovenia, 2002
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 Nxe4 4.d3 Nc5 5.fxe5 d5 6.d4 Ne6 7.Nf4 c6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Be3 Nxf4 10.Bxf4 Bf5 11.Bd3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.O-O Nf8 14.Rf3 Qd7 15.Raf1 Ng6 16.Nd1 O-O 17.Ne3 f6 18.Qf5 Qe8 19.Qe6+ Rf7 20.Bg3 Kh8 21.h4 Nf8 22.Qg4 Bd8 23.h5 h6 24.Bh4 Nh7 25.e6 Rc7 26.Bg3 Ng5 27.Bxc7 Bxc7 28.Rxf6 gxf6 29.Rxf6 Qg8 30.Rxh6+ Nh7 31.Rg6 Qf8 32.Nf5 Qb4 33.Qe2 Qxb2 34.g3 Re8 35.Kg2 Qb5 36.Qe3 Qc4 37.Nh6 Qxc2+ 38.Kh3 Qxg6 39.hxg6 Rxe6 40.Nf7+ 1-0
Jose Fernando Cubas (2197)-Martin Herrera (2425)
Argentina Open
Mar del Plata, Apr. 14 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 Bc5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d4 Bb6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nd2 Nxd2 8.Qxd2 d6 9.exd6 cxd6 10.O-O-O O-O 11.Nf4 Bf5 12.Bd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 d5 14.Qf5 Ne7 15.Qg5 Rc8 16.Kb1 Qd7 17.Nh5 Ng6
18.Qf6! 1-0 (White is threatening mate. If 18… gxf6, then 19.Nxf6+ Kg7 20.Nxd7 Rfe8 21.Nxb6 Rxe3 22.Nxd5 and White, with two extra pawns, has a won game.)
Jo Cubas (2486)-Man Latorre (2308)
Paraguay Ch.
Asuncion, Nov. 25 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 Nxe4 4.d3 Nc5 5.fxe5 d5 6.d4 Ne4 7.Nbc3 Bb4 8.Be3 O-O 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Nxc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 f6 12.exf6 Qxf6 13.Bd3 Bf5 14.O-O Qe6 15.Qf3 Re8 16.Bxf5 Qxe3+ 17.Qxe3 Rxe3
18.Bc8! 1-0
J. Ask (2209)-O. Von Bahr (2298)
Rilton Cup
Stockholm, Dec. 30 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.f4 Nxe4 4.d3 Nc5 5.fxe5 d6 6.d4 Ne4 7.Qd3 Bf5 8.Qf3 Bg6 9.Nf4 d5 10.Bd3 c5 11.O-O Qd7 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.e6 Qc6 14.Nxg6 fxg6 15.Qf7+ Kd8 16.Bg5+ Kc8 17.bxc3 Bd6 18.Qxg7 Qe8 19.dxc5 Bxc5+ 20.Kh1 Nc6 21.Rf7 Bd6 22.Rxb7 Be5 23.Ba6 1-0
The Gambit Chess Player 