Yes its really me, your friendly neighbourhood Top just passing through.
I am sad to report to BigBen that this whole Vienna topic maybe moot, as the valiant attempt to enter a KGD via the Vienna Game has more or less been busted.
What follows now is a copy of what I posted on the forum in another thread a few months ago that relates to the same topic. I trust it will prove enlightening.
Quote:
I noticed a few of you making reference to the line: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nc3 as a favorable way to transpose to the Kings Gambit Declined for white. I am afraid this is no longer the case.
While we are still on the topic of the Bishop's Opening, it gives me an excuse to show a line for black which is not considered by GM John Emms, in his recent and popular repertoire book 'Attacking with 1.e4'. In this book GM Emms recommends the Bishop's Opening, with the idea of using it to reach certain lines of the Kings Gambit declined, however the following obscure line in my opinion puts Emms proposed system out of business. Here is the key game, in which black a GM and reknowned Bishop's opening specialist himself, demolishes his unsuspecting opponent:
[Event "Nordic Championships"]
[Site "Bergen NOR"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[White "Miellet Bensan,Y"]
[Black "Mitkov,N"]
[Round "7"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2243"]
[BlackElo "2547"]
[ECO "C25"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 O-O! [This is the first important idea, black makes ready to play a quick Re8 should white open the position too quickly]
5. f4?! [White does not care, he will stick to his predetermined mode of development come what may. Inflexibiilty in chess can be a fatal desease]
5...exf4 6. Bxf4 c6! [This is the second important idea, and the reason why black ommitted Nc6 earlier in favor of castles. Black makes ready to open up the centre quickly while the white king still resides there]
7. Bb3 [Anticipating the central advance, but it doesn't deter black in the least] d5! [Already black is better] 8. d4 Bb4 9. e5 Ne4 10. Qf3 Qh4+ 11. g3 Qg4 12. Qxg4 Bxg4 13. h3 Be6 14. Nge2 a5 15. a3 Bxc3+ 16. Nxc3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 a4 18. Ba2 Nd7 19. Rb1 b5 20. Kd2 f6 21. exf6 Nxf6 22. Rbe1 Rae8 23. Kc1 Bf5 24. Be5 Ne4 25. g4
Bg6 26. h4 h6 0-1
White decided to call it a day and perhaps some would say prematurely, but I think resignation is probably the strongest move in this position considering that white is virtually a piece down as that bishop buried on a2 will never again see the light of day.
I must confess that I used to play this system for white, but the above move order means that he has to change plans. The KGD transpositional idea of f4 in the above line simply rebounds on white. I showed the above idea to GM Larry Chritiansen on WCN and he too was unable to find a solution for white if he goes 5.f4.
So it would seem that I have now armed forum users with a lethal weapon against practitioners of GM John Emms recommended and popular repertoire.
Happy hunting
Top
Postscript: Before I go, the discerning readers among you would have noticed that the exact line in question maybe reached via the Vienna or Bishop's Opening move order and in this particular case these moves canbe interchanged.
I really do spoil you guys don't I, well I guess I'm just bad at keeping secrets.
I wrote the above almost four years ago, which was not too well received by some in this thread, nevertheless I'm am quite pleased to report that John Emms in his 2008
" It seems to me that 3...Bc5 followed by 4...0-0 is a promising way for Black to play, especially from a practical viewpoint, given that 5.f4 has been White's most popular response. In that case I think the plan of exf4 followed by a quick ...c6 and ...d5 assures Black of good counterplay. While it's true that variations with 5.Bg5 and 5.Nf3 are not quite as much fun, they don't really look that threatening to Black either.
Earlier f2-f4 ideas are rare and some of the variations are very interesting, but this also looks okay for Black. And finally, answering [I suspect that should have been 'following' - Toppy] 3...Bc5 with 4...c6 is a worth-while alternative which in practice has discouraged White from playing f2-f4." End quote.
Talk about deja vu, and I must say that its most satisfying to be vindicated in print by none other than the author of
himself, John Emms.