What about an option (f) namely 5...e5.
The move 5...e5 was recommended by Pete Tamburo on the njscf.org website as a comfortable equaliser against the Hubsch, and I see no compelling reason to disagree. You judge for yourselves:
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 Nxe4 4.Nxe4 dxe4 5.Bc4
Known as the Hubsch gambit, it’s not as good as its reputation, which follows from Black’s playing 5…e6 or 5…Bf5. However, we suggest 5…e5! Interestingly enough, GM Gary Lane has this as a bad move in his book, which only encourages people to play this as White. This is good for players of the Black pieces. What Lane didn’t know at the time he put this book together is that the game he cites involved a Black player whose rating wasn’t even a Class B player. The game went 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.Qxe5 Qxe5?? (our question marks) 8.dxe5 Nc6 9.Bf4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 0-0-0 11.Bxf7 Bc5 12.e6 Be8 13.Nh3 and White was clearly winning.
Lane does point out that neither 5.Bf4 Bf5 or 5.Be3 Bf5 6.f3 c6 7.Bc4 e6 8.Qe2 Nd7 9.fxe4 Bxe4 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Ng5 Bg6 13.Bxe6 h6 14.Bxf7+ Bxf7 15.Nxf7 Kxf7 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qh3 Qc8 or 5.f3 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Bxd4 Nc6 8.Bb5 or even 5….e6 6.Be3 Bd6 7.Qd2 Nc6 8.0-0-0 lead to much for White.
e5 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.Qxe5 Nc6!
Of course! Why should Black take the queen? Let White help Black develop. He is forced to take as the threat (if White moves the queen away) of Qb4+ is too strong.
8.Qxe7+ Bxe7
And now White and Black have a variety of ways to go:
a. 9.Be3 0-0 10.Ne2 Kh8 11.Nf4 f5 12.0-0-0 Na5 7.Be2 Bd6
b. 9.Ne2 Nb4! 10.Bb3 Be6 11.Ba4+ c6 12.Nf4 Bc4 13.a3 Nd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.c3 g5!
c. 9.d5 Nd4! 10.Bb3 0-0 11.Bf4 Nxb3 12.axb3 Rd8 13.c4 Bb4+ 14.Ke2 c6
d. 9.c3 Na5 10.Bd5 f5 11.b4 c6 12.Bxe4 fxe4 13.bxa5 Bd8 14.Ba3 Bxa5 15.Kd2 Bf5 16.Ne2 0-0-0
The above are what I.A. Horowitz used to call “idea variations.” They are simply different ways to go that you ought to look at. The key is that the Blackmar-Diemer regular gambit lines can be avoided and you as Black can look forward to holding your own in a lively middle game.
Now, what happens if White knows you are going to do this and decides to force the issue by:
1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 …
Well, then you can play 2…d5 or 2…c5. Let’s look at 2…d5:
2. … d5
3.e4 c5!
If White pushes with 4.e5 Ng8! is a great form of the French Defense as the queen bishop will be able to get out to f5 and the king knight will not be getting in the way at d7 as usual and can use the route of Ng8-e7-f5 to put pressure on d4. This may necessitate h5 at some point to prevent g4, but Black has a fine game. If White plays 4.Nc3 dxe4 enters the Blackmar-Diemer, but on Black’s terms: 5.d5 exf3 3.Nxf3 Bg4! (Teichmann’s Defense with a difference—c5 is in for Black) 4.h3 Bc8! Black does not want to be harassed on the kingside nor help White develop. Why lose a move? Because now White has a weakness on g3. For example, if White plays 5.Bc4 then Qd6! gives Black a big edge. Thus 5.Bf4 is forced. Then Black has either Qb6 (which he normally doesn’t have in the B-D) or a6 to choose from, and has a great game a pawn up.
We received a question on the message board that asked what would happen if White did not cooperate with 7.Qxe5? "Theory" has only ever given 7.Qxe5, but the question is a good one because once the White forces find out about 7...Nc6 they will likely be looking for alternatives! What follows is the analysis we gave to counter the most reasonable White alternatives to 7.Qxd5:
(Small note: the h6 move by Black in the following notes is not threatening to take the bishop, but threatening Qf5)
7.c3 Nc6 (the questioner gave a game with exd4, which is playable and continued 8.Bg5 Qd7 9.0-0-0 g6? We suggested, instead, 9...Bc5 10.Nf3 0-0 11.Nxd4 Qg4 12.Qxg4 Bxg4 13.Rde1 Bxd4 14.cxd4 Bf5 15.Bd5 Nc6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Be7 Rfe8 18.Bc5 a5 19.Kd2 a4 20.Re3 Reb8 and White can't take advantage of the doubled pawns because of the opposite colored bishops. However, we pointed out that 7...Nc6 seemed better) 8.Bg5 Qd7 9.0-0-0 h6 10.Bh4 Qf5 11.Qxf5 Bxf5 12.Ne2 Na5 13.Bb5+ c6 14.Ba4 Be6 15.d5 Bd7 16.Rhe1 g5 17.Bg3 Bg7 18.b4 Nc4 19.Bb3 Nb6 and Black is having a good time.OR
7.a3 Nc6 8.Bg5 Qd7 9.0-0-0 h6 10.Be3 exd4 11.Ne2 g6 12.Qh4 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Bxe7 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Rxd4 f5 16.Rd2 Rh7 17.Rhd1 g5 18.Bd4 Bd6 with a small edge to Black.OR
7.Bb3 exd4 8.Bg5 g6 9.Qh4 (9.Bxe7 gxh5 10.Bxf8 Rxf8, Black is better) Qb4+ 10.Bd2 Qd6 11.Qxe4+ Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Bxe7 13.Nf3 c5 14.0-0-0 Nc6 15.Rhe1 Bg4 16.Bd5 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Kd7 and again with a small edge to Black.
Analysis and annotations by Pete Tamburo
So if the above analysis is valid, then it begs the question as to what white is trying to prove with this gambit. If he is trying to show that with careful play that white can equalise, then he may succeed, but for most players equality with white is not considered success.
The ball is now back in your court.
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Postscript: By the way, some of you guys should check out the njscf.org website and forum as it has plenty of other goodies for the amateur player who wants to improve. Highly recommended, I give it two thumbs up.
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The Hubsch Gambit (for GM Prie) (Read 30150 times)
