So a few months ago I discovered what I thought was one of the biggest red herring/trojan horse/poisoned pawns (or whatever you want to call it) that I've ever come across leading to some of the craziest positions I've encountered.
I went on a search to see if my discovery had been played before or had a name but could not find one. So I decided to give it a name. I narrowed it down to the "Trump Variation" and the "Admiral Ackbar Variation". I decided to go with the former b/c in this variation, Black wins when he really has no business doing so because White can't control his aggressive urges to grab material in a effort to refute Black's poor opening choice at the cost of White's development. Before reaching the variation, White has all the cards and can easily steer the game into a repetition draw (if they're not feeling feisty) or maintain a significant advantage by just simply developing.
So let's see how this variation plays out (I'm new here haven't figured out how to embed games (if that's possible).
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f5?! (My blitz weapon of choice)
3. Nxe5 Qe7 (White can pretty much respond anyway they want. Personally, I think taking neither pawn and playing 3. d4 is better. As for 3..Qe7 (the Greco) has fallen out of favor to 3..Qf6)
4. Qh5+ g6 (There are two main ways for White to respond, the other option being 4. d4 and then if Black wants to dare White to play 5. Qh5+ after say 4..d6 White is in even better shape because now the DSB c1-h6 diagonal is free and open. But the computer also favors 4. Qh5+ and that signals to me that White wants to be aggressive).
5. Nxg6 Qxe4+
6. Be2 Nf6 (these move are practically forced).
7. Qh3 hxg6 (I sometimes see other Queen moves but that usually allows Black to equalize at worst. The N for R exchange sacrifice is all theory)
8. Qxh8 Qxg2
9. Rf1 Kf7 (the King move is VERY important here. Alternatively, White can allow a repetition draw if they want but I rarely see White players do this in this line).
And now on Move 10, we've reached the decision point for White. There's a whole slew of plans they could follow. The computer likes 10.f4, or 10.b3 as a means of getting the DSB into the game. Indeed 10. f4 really puts Black in a bind and it's going to be really hard to equalize without White slipping up. But in most of my games I don't see those replies. The far more frequent tries I see involve d4 and Nc3.
10. d4 Nf6 (d4 makes sense looking at the board as White wants to get the DSB into the game with the hopes of bringing it down to g5 eventually to attack the weak Knight. Black counters with Nf6 to start developing the Queenside, but this move also seizes on d4 with the hopes that maybe he can play Nd4 or Nb4 to put pressure on c2 and at worst bottle up the White King in the middle)
11. c3 b5?!
White plays c3 to stop the c6 Knight from getting to c2. This final move sets up Black's decision to play the Trump Variation.
b5 pushes the pawn forward in an attempt to go after c3, but also open up space for the LSB to get into the game. However, the pawn isn't defended and it is at this critical juncture that White must decide if he will take the pawn or not.
This position is crazy. i've analyzed that there are no more than four moves White can make to retain the advantage; everything else either leads to equality or disaster. The best move to "Trump the Trump" is 12. Nd2, but to this point in the game where White has been agressive, that's a move many seem to miss since it hampers in White's DSB for a moment and White's King will be stuck in the center. But White is fine, er, better than fine they're probably winning.
But what happens if White plays 12. Bxb5?
If 12. Bxb5, then 12..Nxd4! sacrificing the Knight. The damage is already done whether White takes the Knight or not, but let's say he plays 13.cxd4?
Black responds with the WTF 13...Ba6!
Black is sacrificing quite a bit to get the discovered attack on White's Queen. In the end, Black will win this game in spite of himself. 3+ WTF sacrifices that White gobbles up in attempt to show how poor an opening the Latvian is.
You can look in SF8 at the position after 12..b5. I've never seen such a disparity where White is fine and winning as long as he lays off the freebie pawn, but signs his own death warrant if he takes it. This is the most poisonous poisoned pawn I've ever come across.
I went on a search to see if my discovery had been played before or had a name but could not find one. So I decided to give it a name. I narrowed it down to the "Trump Variation" and the "Admiral Ackbar Variation". I decided to go with the former b/c in this variation, Black wins when he really has no business doing so because White can't control his aggressive urges to grab material in a effort to refute Black's poor opening choice at the cost of White's development. Before reaching the variation, White has all the cards and can easily steer the game into a repetition draw (if they're not feeling feisty) or maintain a significant advantage by just simply developing.
So let's see how this variation plays out (I'm new here haven't figured out how to embed games (if that's possible).
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f5?! (My blitz weapon of choice)
3. Nxe5 Qe7 (White can pretty much respond anyway they want. Personally, I think taking neither pawn and playing 3. d4 is better. As for 3..Qe7 (the Greco) has fallen out of favor to 3..Qf6)
4. Qh5+ g6 (There are two main ways for White to respond, the other option being 4. d4 and then if Black wants to dare White to play 5. Qh5+ after say 4..d6 White is in even better shape because now the DSB c1-h6 diagonal is free and open. But the computer also favors 4. Qh5+ and that signals to me that White wants to be aggressive).
5. Nxg6 Qxe4+
6. Be2 Nf6 (these move are practically forced).
7. Qh3 hxg6 (I sometimes see other Queen moves but that usually allows Black to equalize at worst. The N for R exchange sacrifice is all theory)
8. Qxh8 Qxg2
9. Rf1 Kf7 (the King move is VERY important here. Alternatively, White can allow a repetition draw if they want but I rarely see White players do this in this line).
And now on Move 10, we've reached the decision point for White. There's a whole slew of plans they could follow. The computer likes 10.f4, or 10.b3 as a means of getting the DSB into the game. Indeed 10. f4 really puts Black in a bind and it's going to be really hard to equalize without White slipping up. But in most of my games I don't see those replies. The far more frequent tries I see involve d4 and Nc3.
10. d4 Nf6 (d4 makes sense looking at the board as White wants to get the DSB into the game with the hopes of bringing it down to g5 eventually to attack the weak Knight. Black counters with Nf6 to start developing the Queenside, but this move also seizes on d4 with the hopes that maybe he can play Nd4 or Nb4 to put pressure on c2 and at worst bottle up the White King in the middle)
11. c3 b5?!
White plays c3 to stop the c6 Knight from getting to c2. This final move sets up Black's decision to play the Trump Variation.
b5 pushes the pawn forward in an attempt to go after c3, but also open up space for the LSB to get into the game. However, the pawn isn't defended and it is at this critical juncture that White must decide if he will take the pawn or not.
This position is crazy. i've analyzed that there are no more than four moves White can make to retain the advantage; everything else either leads to equality or disaster. The best move to "Trump the Trump" is 12. Nd2, but to this point in the game where White has been agressive, that's a move many seem to miss since it hampers in White's DSB for a moment and White's King will be stuck in the center. But White is fine, er, better than fine they're probably winning.
But what happens if White plays 12. Bxb5?
If 12. Bxb5, then 12..Nxd4! sacrificing the Knight. The damage is already done whether White takes the Knight or not, but let's say he plays 13.cxd4?
Black responds with the WTF 13...Ba6!
Black is sacrificing quite a bit to get the discovered attack on White's Queen. In the end, Black will win this game in spite of himself. 3+ WTF sacrifices that White gobbles up in attempt to show how poor an opening the Latvian is.
You can look in SF8 at the position after 12..b5. I've never seen such a disparity where White is fine and winning as long as he lays off the freebie pawn, but signs his own death warrant if he takes it. This is the most poisonous poisoned pawn I've ever come across.
