Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (13), early complexities

A complex ending is below today’s game. Take the FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. It took several tries to win today’s endgame, so do not be easily discouraged. My opponent was Houdini set with 6 seconds of calculation time per move.

Today’s game is is an online tournament game. Black uses a rare defense. His making an unadvised trade on move 9 gives White a vast lead in development. After that, White presses his advantage, but makes several tactical errors before securing the win. Black tries to defend the final position by attacking White’s Queen, but that quickly leads to his concession of the game.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at (increased to) 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

I am continuing to re-evaluate my chess activities and playing philosophy. A year-end project is to sort through my 170+ chess books in preparation to whittle them down to under 50.

FEN "k7/2p5/8/KP3p2/8/8/6P1/8 w - - 0 1"

 Happy holidays everyone.