Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is a Double-Edged Sword that has given me thousands of wins and over a thousand losses. The BDG remains a captivating and controversial chess opening. This aggressive line has been praised for its attacking potential and criticized for its purported unsoundness. Its popularity among players of all levels speaks to its effectiveness as a practical weapon. These encounters demonstrate the double-edged nature of this opening. Here is a glimpse at some recent games.
1.d4 d5 2.e4
dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3
Black has tried several move five options:
5...e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.a3 Nd5
9.Bd2 (Or 9.Bxe7 Ncxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.0–0) 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bf6 11.0–0 0–0 12.Qe1 = 1–0 in 34. Arslanov - Pang, chess.com 20245...c5 6.d5 Bg4 7.h3 Bd7
8.Bg5 (Better is 8.Bf4 g6 9.Qd2 Bg7 10.0–0–0) 8...Qc7 9.d6 Qxd6 10.Qxd6 exd6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5 Kd8 13.Nxf6 Bg7 14.Ne4? Re8 0–1 Barash - Kalyani Sirin, chess.com 20245...c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.0–0 e6 8.Ng5 Bg6
9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Nxe6 Qd7 11.Bg5 Na6 12.Qe2 Kf7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Rxf6+ Kg8 15.Raf1 Bg7 16.Nxg7 Kxg7 17.Qe5 Kg8 18.Ne4 Qe8 19.Re6 1–0 Arslanov - Ghafourian, chess.com 2024
5...g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.Qd2 0–0 8.0–0–0 c6
9.h4 (9.h3 would prevent Bg4.) 9...Bg4 10.Be2 Nbd7
11.Bh6 Qa5 12.Kb1 b5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Ne5 Bxe2 15.Qxe2 b4 and 0–1 in 35.
Efremova - Senthilkumar, chess.com 2024
5...Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Bg2 Nbd7
9.Bxb7 (9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.g5) 9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 Qxd1+
11.Nxd1 Rb8 12.Bc6+ Nd7 13.Be3 Bxc2 14.Bxa7 Rb4 15.a3 Be4 16.axb4 (Better is 16.Bxd7+
Kxd7 17.0–0=) 16...Bxb4+ 17.Nc3 Bxc6 Black has won a piece. 18.0–0 Nxe5 19.Bd4
Nf3+ 20.Rxf3 Bxf3 21.Kf2 Bc6 22.Ra7 Bd6 23.Bxg7 Rg8 24.Bf6 Rxg4 25.Ra6 Bb7 0–1
Arslanov - Xiong, chess.com 2024
5…Bg4 6.h3 Bh5
If 6...Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.g4
8...Nd5?! (8...e6=) 9.Bd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Qd5 11.Be4 Qc4 12.Rb1 Qa6 13.Bd3 Qxa2 14.Rxb7 Qe6+ 15.Be3 g6 16.0–0 and 1–0 in 31. Arslanov - Creanga, chess.com 20247.g4
Bg6 8.Ne5 e6
Or 8...Nbd7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Bc4 (10.g5) 10...e6 11.Be3 Nb6 12.Bb5+ c6 13.Bd3 Nbd5 14.Bg5
14...Qa5 (Black missed 14...Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qd5 attacking Bg5 and Rh1.) 15.Bd2 Nxc3 16.bxc3 but 1–0 in 33. Mkrtchyan - Paval, chess.com 20249.Bg2
c6 10.h4 h5
Or 10...Bb4 11.Bg5 Qa5 12.Bd2 Nbd7 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 Qc7 15.Qe2 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.h5 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Bxc2 19.Qxc2 Qxe5+
20.Qe4 Qxc3+ 21.Kf2 0–0 and 0–1 in 37. Barash - Samunenkov, chess.com 202411.Nxg6
fxg6 12.g5 Ng4 13.Qd3 Kf7
Or 13...Qc7 14.Rf1 (14.Qxg6+! Qf7 15.Qxf7+ Kxf7 16.0–0+ favors White.) 14...Qh2 15.Bh3 Bd6 16.Ne4 Bc7 17.Bd2 Na6 18.0–0–0 0–0–0 19.Rh1 Nf2
20.Bxe6+ (20.Qf3 would trap Black's
queen.) 20...Kb8 21.Nxf2 Qxf2 and 0–1 in 34 Arslanov - Materia, chess.com 2024
14.Rf1+ Kg8 15.Qxg6 [Strong is 15.Be4] 15...Qd7 16.Bd2 Na6 17.0–0–0 Bb4 18.d5 cxd5 19.Nxd5 exd5 20.Bxd5+ Qxd5 21.Bxb4 Qxa2 22.Rd7 Rh7 23.Rff7 Qa1+ 24.Kd2 Kh8
[White has a mate in four.] 25.Qxh7+ Kxh7 26.Rxg7+ Kh8 27.Rh7+ Kg8 28.Rdg7# [1–0 Arslanov - Mesquita, chess.com 2024] 1–0