In this game I play white against the Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit. I can’t remember having played against this opening before and the opening explorer showed that white had high win statistics. It is a good example of the importance of developing your pieces and if the king is in the center how strong it can be to crash through when your pieces are ready for action.
In this game I manage to frustrate my opponent by not allowing castling. When castling is accomplished my pieces are active and work together to attack, taking advantage of the weaknesses in the my opponent’s position. The checkmate at the end is a classic mating pattern with bishop and rook.
What a ride this game was! I give my opponent a mate in 1 chance and then turn the tables to win the game.
Often in blitz games I like to try ideas just to see if they are good / bad. In this game I do just that as early as move 3. Turns out it is just a bad move, but it does help to clarify ideas and chess principles.