UON # 13

UNORTHODOX 
  October
OPENINGS  2005
Senior Editor

NEWSLETTER Davide Rozzoni

“Dedicated to gambiteers and Associate Editor

players of the unorthodox.” Gary K. Gifford
A Note from the Associate Editor

We are pleased that Paul Keiser suggested a special edition of UON consisting of his nice work,
“Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit.” Paul has done a wonderful job of breaking down the
main lines into several sub-variations. His work on the Halloween Gambit is the most thorough
I’ve seen to date. You can read about Paul Keiser on page 48.

I do highly recommend that you take time to read the introduction and the model game section.
From the later you will see that 1.e4 is not the best way to go for a Halloween Gambit. You will
learn what is and why.

There has been some discussion as to why the name, Halloween Gambit. Paul provides one
possible answer in the introduction. I have tongue-in-cheek theory, which runs along these lines:
The most famous of Halloween stories seems to be that of Ichabod Crane’s Headless Horseman.
In this gambit, however, we give up a horse, and possibly have a “big head” about it (not so much
in ego trip but in chess knowledge). So, we have essentially, a Horseless Headman, quite fitting
for Halloween.

But, back to being serious . . . In regard to the 5.… Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 line (see page 35)
instead of 6. e5, I played 6.a3 to avoid what Paul has mentioned as a possible “Halloween’s
Achilles’ Heel.” In other words, I wanted to stop black’s Bishop from going to b4, pinning my c3
Knight, and then killing it off. I repeat that game below (a win against Fritz6). Analysis (with
diagrams) of that game and several other Halloween Gambit games appears in UON 12.

Gifford vs. Fritz [1−0] Halloween Gambit − Sept.1 2004 - Note: printed with diagrams and analysis in UON 12.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5-+ 5.d4 Ng6 6. a3 d6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qf3 Re8 10.Be3 c6
11.Rae1 d5 12.e5 Nh4 13.Qd1 Nd7 14.f4 Qb6 15.Qc1 Ng6 16.f5 Ngf8 17.Bf2 Qd8 18.Qe3 Bg5 19.Qg3 19...Kh8
20.Qh3 Bd2 21.Re2 Bxc3 22.bxc3 c5 23.Re3 c4 24.Be2 Nb6 25.Bh4 Qc7 26.Bh5 Kg8 27.Qg3 g6 28.Ref3 Na4
29.f6 .Qb6-+ 30.Qg5 Ne6 31.Qh6 Nxc3 32.Kh1 Qxd4 33.Rg3 Qe4 34.Bg4 Kh8 35.Bxe6 Rg8 36.Bxf7 Qe2 37.Kg1
Qxc2 38.Rxc3! Qxc3 39.Bxg8 Qe3+ 40.Qxe3 Be6 41.f7 Rxg8 42.Bf6+ Rg7 43.f8Q+ Bg8 44.Bxg7# 1-0

In closing, I think gambiteers and players of the unorthodox will get a lot out of Paul’s excellent
work. So get out your chess boards and enjoy.
Gary K Gifford
UON Associate Editor 15 Oct 2005

UON 13 © Oct. 2005 by Davide Rozzoni and Gary K. Gifford

Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit, revision 2 © August 2005 by Paul Keiser
Edited by G. K. Gifford for UON 13.

Cover Art: “Halloween Attack,” © Sept 2005 by Gary K. Gifford

Please forward UON comments, games, and article submissions to: penswift@yahoo.com
Comments for Paul Keiser should be sent to: paul.keiser@scarlet.be

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 2
Contents
A Note from the Associate Editor page 2

Introduction page 5

Model Game page 6

Strategy: Increase the pressure until Blacks’ position crumbles . . . page 7

The Gambit Declined ( 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe4 !?) page 9

The Gambit Accepted, 5…. Nc6 ( . . . 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6) page 9

A 5 . . . Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6 Main Line page 10

A 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6
8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5 Kd8 12.Be3. . .
A1 12. . . . Nh6! page 10
A2 12.. . . Qxb2?!
A3 12. . . . b6?!
A4 12. . . . Nxf4?!
A5 12. . . . Qe6?

B 5 . . . Nc6 6. d5 (Black avoids 6. … Ne5) page 12

B. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d45 Nc6 6. d5 . . .
B1 6. …. Ne7
B2 6. …. Na5
B3 6. .. Nb4
B4 6. …. Nb8
B5 6. …. Bb4

C thru F 5 ... Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4... (Lines other than in line A) page 15
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 . . .

C1 7. …. Bb4 page 15
C2 7. …. Bd6
C3 7. …. Neg4

D1 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Qe7 page 16

D2 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Bb4

D3 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Bc5

E1 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 c6 page 17

E2 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 a6

F1 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qb6 page 18

F2 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qa5
F3 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qh4+
F4 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Nf6

G1 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5 Rb8?! page 20
G2 7. …. Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5 Nxf4!

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 3
Gambit Accepted, 5. … Ng6 ( 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6) pg. 21

A 5 . . . Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 lines page 21

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 . . .
A1 8.Qe2
A2 8.Qf3
A3 8. f4

B thru E 5 . . . Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 . . . page 25

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 . . .
B1 7. . . d6 8.Qf3 Qd7 page 25
B2 7. . . d6 8.Qf3 Be6
B3 7. . . d6 8.Qf3 f5
B4 7. . . d6 8.Qf3 f6
B5 7. .. . d6 8.Qf3 Qe7
B6 7. . . d6 8.Qe2 . . .

C1 7. . . . d5 8.Bxd5 N8e7 page 31

C2 7. . . . d5 8.Bxd5 Bb4
C3 7. . . . d5 8.Bxd5 c6

D1 7.. . . Bb4 8.Qf3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 page 35

D2 7.. . . Bb4 8.Qf3 d5
D3 7.. . . Bb4 8.Qf3 Qe7
D4 7.. . . Bb4 8.Qf3 f6
D5 7.. . . Bb4 8.Qf3 f5

E1 7. . . . Nh4 8. g3?! page 39

E2 7. . . . . Nh4 8. O-O

F and G 5 . . . Ng6 6. e5 . . . page 39

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6. e5 . . .

F1 6. . . . .Qe7 page 40
F2 6. . . .. Bb4

G1 6. . .. Ng8 7.Bc4 Be7 page 42

G2 6. …. Ng8 7.Bc4 f6

H Deviations at Black’s Move (Moves other than 5.…. Nc6 and 5.… Ng6) page 43
Covered are: 5. .. Bb4; 5. .. Nxe4 ; 5. .. Bd6; 5. .. Neg4; 5. .. Qe7

Closely Related Openings page 45

The Chicago Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 ?)
The Halloween Gambit Reversed (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 Nxe4!? 5.Nxe4 d5)
The Delayed Halloween Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3 g6 5.Nxe4!?)

Conclusions page 47

About the Author page 48

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 4
Introduction
The Halloween Gambit was already known by Oskar Cordel in 1888 who pointed to the formidable attacking
possibilities in his “ Fuerher der Eroeffnungstheorie “ but finally concluded that the sacrifice was not sound.

In that time the gambit was called the Leipzig gambit or the Mueller-Schultze gambit (sort of joke in German
alike "Jones and Smith" in English), but Rainer Schlenker , well known by Unorthodox chess lovers, re-baptized
it as the Halloween Gambit in his magazine “ Randspringer ” in december 1993. The name is founded on the
fact that players who are for the first time confronted with the surprising and unexpected fourth move of white
become so shocked as if they were suddenly confronted with the horror of some scary Halloween mask.

Indeed, this fourth move is shocking. After : 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 when Black is expecting a normal
Four Knights Game move as 4.Bb5, White surprisingly takes the pawn on e5 (diagram).

A certain Steffen A. Jakob, German chessplayer and computer programmer was heavily touched by the
Randspringer article and created Brause. Brause was a clone of the chess program Crafty feeded with a
Halloween gambit openingsbook and played more than 3000 internet games in the period from 1996 to 1998 in
which it scores 72 %. Jakob constantly changed and improved the openingsbook of Brause up to more than 500
subvariations.

Brause showed in a lot of short games how deadly this gambit could be. One example :
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 (this is one main line, the other one is 5 ..Ng6), 6.d5 Nb8
7.e5 Ng8 8.d6 c6 9.Bc4 f6 10.Qh5+ g6 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.Qe2+ Kd8 13.Ne4 and with Bg5 in the air Black
resigned Brause -Betrueger,ICC,1997,1-0(13)

In these days the theory of the Halloween gambit knows a second revival due to new analyses of the Dutch
player Maurits Wind , the experiences in various Halloween thematic tournaments – of which the two
correspondence tournaments organized by M. Wind surely were the most significant – and to the extended power
of chess programs as Fritz and Hiarcs.

In the following pages I want to summarize the lines I have met most frequently while playing this gambit, and
how to handle so-called refutations and critical lines.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 5
Model game
1.Nc3 The preparation part : the Queens knight opening is the best way trying to reach the Halloween.Via e2-e4
it’s more difficult : Black has more ways to deviate (Sicilian, Caro-kann, etc.).
1...e5 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6
4.Nxe5?! Here the fun starts !
4...Nxe5 What does White get for the piece ? A pawn and the center. Not enough ? Let's find out . . .

5.d4 Now we are in the second and most amusing part : the hunt for the Knights. The following white moves
are not hard to find.
Black may now play Ng6 or Nc6 “ whichever one he takes, he wishes he had taken the other “ (Dr. N.F.Cooke
in the “Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph”, 1883),
5...Nc6
6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8

The third part of the game : searching for combinations. White has the center, and his bishops are free to run. If
there was not the lost of the piece, White would already have a superior position. The strategy is : try to hamper
Black's development while attacking . And look for a way to get definitive advantage.
9.d6 now after cxd6 exd6 White is menacing Qe2 to win back the piece with the better pawnstructure.
9...a6 Black is afraid of the manoeuvre Nc3-Nb5-Nc7
10.h4 The queenside defended by a6 ? No problem, the point of attack will be switched to the kingside. There
still is a knight waiting for us.
10...cxd6 11.exd6 Qf6 12.Qe2+ Kd8 13.Nd5 What follows is typical play in this kind of position
13...Qxd6 14.Be3 ( Qxd5 being impossible because of Bb6+ and the game is over)

14...Nxf4 Black decides to give the piece back, but he still is vulnerable as the pawn on d7 is isolated and the
King has to stay in the middle of the board.

15.Nxf4 Fourth part of the game : trying to win a won position.

15...Ne7 16.Nd3 Nd5 17.0-0-0 Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Qe6 19.Qd4 Qxa2 20.Qb6+ Ke8 21.Re1+ Be7
22.Nb4 with Nd5 in the air
22...Qa1+ 23.Kd2 Qxe1+ 24.Kxe1 h5 25.Nd5 Rh6 26.Nc7+ Kf8 27.Nxa8 Rxb6
28.Nxb6 and Black resigned, as he will lose the bishop too.

keiserpaul-Thedrum,GK,2002,1-0

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 6
Strategy : Increase the pressure until Blacks’ position crumbles away !

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Bb4 8.Qf3 f6 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 d5
11.exd6!

“ White wants the king to stay in the center by the bishop on c4 or b3 ” (A. Torrecillas) )
[11.Bxd5 was Fritz choice 11...Bg4 12.Bc6+ bxc6 13.Qxg4 is the game Torrecillas-Jerez in the same
tournament]
11...cxd6 [11...Qxd6 is another possibility 12.Re1+ N8e7 13.a4 Qd7 14.Ba3=]
12.Ba3! with pressure on the isolated pawn 12...N8e7 13.Rfe1 Qc7 14.Bb3 Kd8?!

Kd8 may not be the best move, but the bishop battery is very strong, also in the alternatives [14...a5 15.Rab1
Bd7 16.Qd5 Kd8 or 14...Kf8 15.Qg3 Nf5 16.Qf3 h5] 15.c4 played to open line. “ All white pieces are
developed and I need to open the position “ . (A.Torrecillas.) 15...Bd7 16.Rad1 Qc6

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 7
17.Qc3 a5 18.d5 Qc7 19.c5 b5 20.Qd2 b4 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Bb2 a4 23.Bc4 “ White wants to exchange some
pawns. Black need pawns to win the ending and with less pawns Black's king has more problems
“ (A.Torrecillas.) 23...Ke8 24.a3! [24.c3 Ne5 25.Be2 a3 26.Ba1 Ba4 27.Rb1 bxc3 28.Qxc3 Kf7 29.Qg3 Rhb8-+]

24...Ne5 the only good move, White may not be allowed to open the a3-d6 diagonal for the bishop [24...Rb8?
25.Qd3 Kf8 26.axb4 Rc8 27.Ba2 Qxb4 28.Ba3 Qc3 29.Bxe7+ Nxe7 30.d6]
25.Ba2 b3 26.cxb3 axb3 27.Bxb3 Kf7 28.f4 [28.Rxe5 fxe5 29.Bxe5 could result in a draw]
28...N5g6? [28...Ng4! 29.Qb4 (29.Re6 Qb8!) 29...Nf5 30.Qxd6 Nxd6 31.h3 Rhb8 32.Rd3 Nh6÷]
29.Re6 Qxf4 30.Qe2 Qb8 31.Ba2 Qa7+ 32.Kh1 Kf8 33.d6 Ng8 34.Qc4 Nh6 35.Bxf6 gxf6 36.Rxf6+ Ke8
37.Rxg6 hxg6 38.Qc3 Rh7 39.Qf6 Ba4 40.Qxg6+ Nf7 41.Rf1 Bc2 42.Qxc2 resigned. 1-0

There is no more hope :

42...Nxd6 43.Qg6+;

42...Ne5 43.Qe4 Rh5 44.Bf7+ Kd7 45.Bxh5 Qa5 46.Rf6

42...Rg7 43.Qc6+ Kf8 44.d7 Qb8 45.Qe6 Kg8 46.Rxf7

Torrecillas,A - Keiser,P , Halloween Tournament 1 (cr e-mail), 20.01.2003

The game was selected by the tournament’s Jury as the most spectacular game won by white.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 8
The Gambit Declined
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe4 ?!

Black is not obliged to accept the gambit, but this decline is rare. Why
shouldn’t he accept? After all, a knight is a knight !

5.Nxc6 Nxc3 6.dxc3 bxc6 7.Bd3 Be7 leads to equality Brause-scorpiocy,ICS,

1997,1-0(29). An alternative is 5.Qh5!?. After 5. .. Qf6 6.Qxf7+ Qxf7
7.Nxf7 Kxf7? (Nxf2! is equal) 8.Bc4+ and White is up a good pawn.

The Gambit Accepted

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5

A knight is a knight! This capture is seen in most Halloween Games. White

now responds 5. d4 and black will likely play Nc6 or Ng6. We will now look
at both options in detail.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 9
Nc6 section
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6

A. Main Line
The key position of the Nc6 section occurs after following main line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8
9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5 Kd8 12.Be3

White has created a strong outpost on d6. Black has tried several moves
here, but most of them give no satisfaction.
Of course 12. .. a6 is not possible because of 13.Bb6+ Ke8 14.Nc7+ Kd8
15.Nxa8+ Ke8 16.Nc7+ Kd8 17.Nxa6+ Ke8 18.Nc7+ Kd8 19.Nd5+. Very nice !

A1 : 12. .. Nh6 !
This is the best reply and it was very hard to find a good answer to it.

13.Qd2 b6 (of course not Nf5? because of Qa5!) and now 14.0-0-0 has proved
to be bad :
a) 14. .. Ng4 15.Bg1 Qxf4 16.Qxf4 Nxf4 17.Nxa7 Ne6 18.Be2 Ne5 19.Bxb6+ Ke8
keiserpaul-1962,GK,2002,0-1(52)
b) 14. .. Nf5 15.Kb1 Nxe3 keiserpaul-chessnake,GK,2002,0-1(31)

But what else could have been played ? Moving the Queen a second time
14.Qd5!?(idea : 14. .. Rb8 15.0-0-0 Nxf4 16.Qc4) failed on 14. .. Qe6 and
White is obliged to exchange Queens. keiserpaul-lexherman, GK,2003,0-1(38)
went 15.Qxe6 dxe6 16.Nxa7 bxd6 17.Bxb6 with two pawns for the piece, but
this was not enough compensation.

The best idea is the suggestion of M.Wind 14.f5! forcing the queen capture
14. .. Qxf5 (14. .. Qe5?! 15.0-0-0 Nxf5 16.Re1 Nxe3 17.Rxe3 Qc5 18.b4! Qc6
19.Bc4! Qxc4 20.Rhe1! and White won in spikkel-xeroc, GK, 2003,1-0,(26)).

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 10
We now consider 3 moves:

a) 15.Nxa7?! Qe6?! 16.0-0-0 C.W.Hawes-R.Lloyd,ItsTourTurn,2002,0-1

(58). A game Keiserpaul-wakigawa,GK,2003,0-1(43) went 15...Rb8! 16.Nxc8
Rxc8 17.Bxb6+ Ke8 18.Bc7 Be7! 19.c3 Bg5 20.Qd3. In this line White does not
have enough compensation with his 2 pawns for the piece.

b) 15.Bd3 leaded to a draw by threefold repetition in Lexherman-

keiserpaul,GK,2003,(43) after 15. .. Qh5 (15. .. Qd5! Morphy-lexherman,
2003,0-1(34)) 16.Be2 Qe5 17.Bd4 Qf4 18.Be3 Qe5 (18. .. Qh4+ 19.g3 Qa4 does
not promise much).

c) 5.0-0-0! Ng4 is also a drawish line. Hoynck,F-Steenbekkers,F,HGT1,

2003, ½-½(20) continued 16.Re1 Nxe3 [16. .. N6e5?! 17.Bd4 Nc6 18.Bc4 (18.h3
! +-) gambitlover-chrislim,The Chess Knights,2005,1-0(20) ]17.Rxe3 Ne5
18.Qc3 f6 19.Qc7+ Ke8 20.Qc3 Kd8 [20...Bb7 21.Bd3 Qg4 seems better for
White]

A2 : 12. .. Qxb2 ?!
the logical idea of making room at f6 and taking a pawn at the same moment
fails on 13.Bd4 (13.Bd3!? Magneto-Panos,Letsplaychess,2003, 1-0(28)) 13. ..
Qb4+ 14.c3 Qa5 (14. .. Qb2? 15.g3 trapped the Queen in lexherman-
skipwallace555,GK,2003,1-0(28)).
15.f5 Ne5 (15. .. a6 16.Nc7 Rb8 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.Nd5 += analysis Wind)
16.Bxe5 a6 and now not 17.Qd5 17...Nh6 18.Qd4 axb5 19.Bf6+ gxf6 20.Qxf6+
Ke8 21.Qe5+ Kd8 22.Qxh8 Ng8! as in keiserpaul-lanesra,GK, 2002,0-1(54) but
Antonio Torrecillas winning suggestion of 17.Qh5! axb5 18.Qxf7 Nh6 19.Bf6+
gxf6 20.Qxf6+ Ke8 21.Be2

A3 : 12. .. b6 ?!
Black’s idea of fianchettoing his Queen’s bishop gives White the
opportunity to execute his aggressive plan by taking the a7 pawn 13.Qd5 Rb8
14.0-0-0 Bb7 15.Qd2 ( Wind opts for 15.Qc4 Rc8 16.Qa4 ) 15. .. Qe6
16.Nxa7 Ba8 17.Qc3 Bxd6 18.Bc4 Qe7 19.Rhe1 27.Nb5 keiserpaul-
beardsleyx,GK,2002,1-0(27)

A4 : 12. .. Nxf4 ?!
Fritz7’s choice doesn’t help Blacks development either. On the contrary,
for the pawn White gets an open line plus two tempi. 13.Qd2 Ne6 14.0-0-0
Qg6

(14. .. b6 Fritz7 15.Bc4 Wind. The silicon monster can be beaten with
15. .. Ba6 16.Bd5 Rc8 17.Nxa7 Rb8 18.Bxe6! Qxe6 19.Qf2 Bxd6 20.Bxb6+ )

15.Bd3 Qg4 16.Qa5+ Ke8 17.Bf5 Qxg2 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Nc7+ Kf7 20.Qh5+ Qg6
21.Qe5 Nf6 22.Rdf1 b6 23.Rhg1 Rb8 24.Rxg6 Harms,F-Moeckel,J,TGT ICCF,1998,
1-0(24)

A5 : 12. .. Qe6 ?
13.Qd4 Nf6 14.0-0-0 Qe4 15.Qc3 Qc6 16.Qb4 Ne4 17.f5 with advantage for
White (analysis M.Wind)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 11
B. Deviations on the 6th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5

B1 : 6. .. Ne7
After 7.e5 Black obtains equality with 7. .. Nfg8 ( or Nfxd5 8.Nxd5 c6
followed by Ng6 ) 8.d6 c6 9.dxe7 Qxe7 inagaddadavida – roxanol,GK,2005, ½–
½(45)

B2 : 6. .. Na5 !?
Brause had a score of only 42 % after this move but could have played
better. Dorobanov-Tremere,ICC,0-1(25) went 7.e5 Qe7
[ 7. .. Ng8 8.d6 cxd6 9.exd6 Qf6 10.Nb5 Qe5+ ( Kd8 11.Be3 Nc6 12.c3 b6
13.Qd2 Qg6 0-0-0 Wind ) 11.Be3 Kd8 12.Qd2 Nc6 13.0–0–0 Nf6 14.f4 Qe6 15.Qf2
Bxd6 16.Nxd6 Qxa2 17.Bc4 and White had an overwhelming attack in
gambitlover-rebel210, TheChessKnights,2005,1-0(24) ]
8.Qe2 Ng8 9.Nb5 Kd8 10.d6 cxd6 11.exd6 with an early Queen exchange, but
with 10.Nxc7!? Rb8 11.d6 Qh4 12.g3 White could have kept on the pressure .

B3 : 6. .. Nb4 ?!
7.a3 has lead to many quick victories for White with following idea : 7. ..
Na6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Qf3 d6? (9. .. Qe7 !? 10.Bxa6 bxa6 11.0-0 with compensation)
10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.e6 fxe6 12.dxe6 Brause-jm,1997,1-0,(12)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 12
B4 : 6. .. Nb8!?

7.e5 We will examine two possibilities

B41 : 7. .. Qe7
8.Qe2 Ng8 9.d6 (9.Bf4 !? Bücker) Qe6 10.Nb5 Na6! 11.f4?! Nh6 and Black had
a splendid position in Keiser,P-Fraikin,R,HGT1,2003,0-1(44). But the White
game could be improved. Wind’s suggestion is 11.dxc7! d5 12.exd6 ! after
which can follow 12. .. Nb4 13.Be3 a6 14.0-0-0 or 14.Rd1.

B42 : 7. .. Ng8
Back to the roots! One of the earliest Halloween games I found is Moucka,
F-NN,Prague Chess Club,1884. It continued: 8.f4 Bb4 9.Bd3 d6 10.a4!? dxe5
11.fxe5 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qe7 13.0-0 Na6 14.Ba3 Qh4 15.Bb5+ Kd8 16.Rxf7 Nh6
17.Qh5! Qxh5 18.Be7# 1-0

An analysis of M. Wind goes 8.d6 cxd6 9.exd6 with sufficient compensation

after 9. .. Qa5! (9...Qf6 10.Nb5 Na6 11.Bc4; 9...Qb6 10.Nb5 Na6 11.Bc4)
10.Bf4 (10. Bb5!? is Hoynck,F-Werksma,A,HGT1,2003,1-0(30)) 10. .. Nc6
(10...Qb4? 11.Qd2; 10...Nf6 11.Bc4) 11.Bc4 (11.Qe2+ !?) Qf5 12.Bg3 Nd8
13.0-0 Ne6 14.Nb5 Kd8 15.Re1]

B5 : 6. .. Bb4 !?

7.dxc6 Black has three replies at his disposal :

B51 : 7. .. Bxc3+
White can take the Knight and if Black exchange Bishop for Knight , White
has the better game due to his bishop pair. 7. .. Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 dxc6 9.Qxd8+
Kxd8 Brause-Axl,ICC,1997,1-0(30)

B52 : 7. .. Nxe4 !
Yes, 7. … Nxe4 is the better move; and now 8.Qd4 Qe7
(8. .. Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 0-0 10.Be3 Nf6 11.cxd7 = Wind)

a) 9.Be3 ! Brause scored at 100 % by playing this move ( 9. .. 0-0 10.Bd3

Nxc3 11.bxc3 Ba5) but was never confronted with 9. .. f5!

The best move here is 10.Bd3! which lead to a draw in Torrecillas-

Maciaga,HGT1, 2003,½-½(16) as well as in Wind- Torrecillas, HGT1, 2003,½-
½(23). Both games continue 10. .. Bc5 11.Qc4 Bxe3 12.Bxe4 Bxf2+ (12. ..
Bb6? 13.0-0-0 fxe4 14.Rhe1 or 12. .. Bh6? 13.0-0 fxe4 14.Rfe1, both with
strong attack) 13.Kxf2 fxe4.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 13
9...Nxc3!? may be a better alternative. We shall concentrate on 3
possibilities:

10.bxc3 Bd6! 11.Qxg7 (11.cxb7?! Bxb7 12.Rb1 Be5 13.Qb4) 11...Be5-+;

10.a3 Nd5+ 11.axb4 Nxe3 12.fxe3 dxc6 13.Qg7 Qxe3+ 14.Be2 Rf8 “ I don’t
like White’s chances” Schiller ;

10.Qxg7 Nd5+ 11.c3 Bxc3+ (11...Rf8!?) 12.bxc3 Rf8 =+ 13.cxd7+ Bxd7

14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Nxc3 16.Bd3 Analysis Torrecillas-Schiller ]

b) 9.Qxg7?! is not as good, based on what we’ve seen in actual play:

9. .. Nxc3+ 10.Be3 Nd5+ 11.c3 Rf8 12.cxb4 Nxe3 13.fxe3 Qxe3+! with
advantage to Black ( Starosits,I-Jerez,A,HGT1,2003,0-1(39) )

9. .. Nf6+ 10.Be2 Rg8 11.Qh6 dxc6 was seen in

Fraikin,E-Milov,V,HGT1,2003,0-1(40)

c) 9.Be2?! 0-0 10.cxb7 Bxb7 11.0-0 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bc5 =+

B53 : 7. .. Qe7!?
Looks like an amazing new idea but Black was not able to cash his nice
attack in Steenbekkers,F(2073)-Blokhuis,J(2334),HGT1, 2003,1-0(35),
8.cxd7+ Bxd7 9.f3 0-0-0 10.Qe2 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Rhe8

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 14
C. Deviations on the 7th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4

C1 : 7. .. Bb4 ?
8.fxe5 Nxe4 9.Qd4! and White has an ideal center.

C2 : 7. .. Bd6 !?
8.fxe5 Bxe5. Now that the advance d5 is played and the f4 pawn has
disappeared, the bishop seems well placed on e5 9.Qf3
[9.Bd3 is evbad-agrino,ICC,1997,0-1(65)]
9. .. Qe7 10.Bd3 d6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 c5

8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.Qf3 Qe7 10.Bd3 d6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 c5 =+

C3 : 7. .. Neg4 !?
This is a suggestion of Bradley Zang [for players of the Black pieces]:
“If you are afraid of the Halloween Gambit just give back the knight. Black
will have the better endgame.” 8.e5 Bc5 9.exf6 Nxf6 (9. .. Bf2+?! 10.Ke2
Bb6 11.fxg7 Rg8 12.Kf3! Rxg7 13.Na4) 10.Qe2+ Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 15
D. Deviations on the 8th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5

D1 : 8. .. Qe7 ?
Qe7 occurs often in the gambit, but in this position it is a bad idea.
9.Qe2!

D2 : 8. .. Bb4 !
To be able to castle, Black has to bring out the bishop. A good idea !

9.exf6 Bxc3+ ( 9. .. Qxf6 10.Qe2+ Kd8 11.Qc4 lead to an equal game Keiser-
Maciaga,HGT1,2003, ½-½ (19)) 10.bxc3 Qxf6 Black has attacking possibilities
and the better pawn structure Brause-crafty,ICS, 1997,0-1(127)

D3 : 8. .. Bc5 !?
As in the D2 line, this bishop move is to allow castling.

A game lexherman-ramjam,GK,2003,1-0, (32) went 9.exf6 0-0 10.Na4 Re8+

11.Be2 Bb4+ 12.c3 Bf8 ?! [12...Bd6! as in Keiser-Hoynck,HGT2,2005,0-1(55)
looks better. After 12. .. 0-0 Qf6 it is not clear what White should do. ]
13.fxg7 Bxg7 14.0-0 and the center is all in White hands.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 16
E. Deviations on the 9th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8
9.d6

E1 : 9. .. c6 ?!
c6 cannot be recommended. Brause used to play here 10.g3 b5 11.Ne4 followed
by 12.Qe2. White has an easy game.

In a correspondence game against Albarran, GM Milov played 10.Bd3 but

unfortunately for theory the game ended at that point by forfeit. Now the
black Queen can go for counter-play at h4 10.Bd3 Nh6 11.0-0 [11.g3!
aditora-yozzer,GK, 2005,½-½,(63)] Qh4 12.Bd2 f5 13.Ne2 Qh5 sranderson-
zoltantor,GK,2003,½-½,(26)

E2 : 9. .. a6 ?!
10.h4 h5 11.Nd5 cxd6 12.Be3. White is better

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 17
F. Deviations on the 10th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8
9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6

F1 : 10. .. Qb6
F11 : 11. Qe2+ ?!
11. .. Kd8 12.f5

Black has played :

a) 12 : .. Bxd6 !

Following the Brause database, where White scores 100%, White did not fear
an attack from Black and simply continued his development. But we must take
a closer look. Note that Brause had switched from 14.Nb5 to 14.h3:

13.fxg6 hxg6 14.Nb5 Bg3+ 15.Kd1 a6 (15. .. Rxh2! 16.Rxh2 Bxh2 17.Be3 Qa6
18.Qf3 qf6 and Black is a pawn up) 16.Qf3 Nf6 17.Be3 Qe6 18.Qxg3 axb5
19.Bxb5 Rxa2 20.Rxa2 Qxa2 21.Bb6+ Ke8 22.Qc7 Qa8 23.Qd8 Brause-
sadatsugu,ICC,1997,1-0(23)

13.fxg6 hxg6 14.h3 Nf6 15.Qf3 Re8+ (15. .. Be5! 16.Be2 d6 and Black was
better in keiserpaul-harryman,GK,0-1(45)) 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Rf1 Be3 18.Kd1 Qd6+
19.Bd3 Bxc1 20.Kxc1 Brause-SirJames,ICC,1998,1-0 (43)

b) 12. .. Nh4 ?!

Black cannot save the knight 13.Qg4 Nxg2+ 14.Bxg2 Nf6 15.Qg3 Bxd6 16.Qxg7
Re8+ 17.Ne2 Nh5 18.Qg5+ f6 19.Qxh5 Brause-OLTS,ICC,1998,1-0(19)

c) 13. .. Nf6 ?!

This development move cannot stop White’s aggression

13.fxg6 hxg6 14.Qc4 Brause-Drk,ICC,1998,1-0(21)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 18
F12 : 11. Nb5 !

11. .. Rb8? is not recommended 12.Qe2+ Kd8 13.Be3 Qa5+ 14.c3 and Black is
in trouble 14. .. a6? 15.b4 Qa4 16.Bb6# gambitlover-ROKOleCROATE,Chess21
Blitzgame,2005,1-0(16) or 14. .. b6? 15.Qc4! gambitlover-pennywise,The
Chess Knights,1-0(29)

11. .. Kd8 results in a balanced position according to M. Wind. He gives

following analysis :

12.f5 Ne5 13.Bf4 f6

[ 13. ..Nc6!? 14.Qd5 was winning for Black in keiserpaul-arlen,GK,2003,0-1,

(24). 14.Qd2!? looks better. After 14.Qd2 Qa5 15.c3 Nf6 roxanol-alfpi,GK,
2005,1-0(36) White has a strong attack with 16.b4 ]

14.Qd2 Qc6 (the point of White’s play is that 14. ..a6? fails to 15.Be3 +-)
15.0-0-0 and now

a) 15. .. a6 16.Na3 b5 17.Bxe5 fxe5 18.Nc4 bxc4 19.Qa5+ Ke8 20.Qxe5+ Kd8 =
b) 15. .. b6 16.Nc7 Bb7 18.Nxa8 Bxa8 18.h4 idea Rh3

F2 : 10. .. Qa5
This move is not very popular, but it prevents Nb5 and brings Qb4 in the
position to capture pawn d6. White has two replies, one solid and one very
sharp. Wind gives:

11.Qd4! (prevents Qb4 and invites an exchange of queens) Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6
13.Nb5 Ra5 ( 13. .. Ra4 was gambitlover-WGHayes, The Chess Knights ,2005,1-
0(53)) 14.Be3 (14.f5!? Ne5 15.Be3) 14...Rxb5 15.Bxb5 Bxd6 16.Bd4 f6 17.g3
Bc5 18.Bc3 roughly equal.

11.Bc4!? Nh6 [11. .. Qb4 12.Qe2+ Kd8 13.Bxf7 ] 12.h4! Nf5 13.h5 Ngh4
14.Qe2+ Kd8 15.Bd2 Bxd6 (15...Nd4 16.Qd3 Qxh5) 16.0-0-0 nice compensation,
but very unclear

F3 : 10. .. Qh4+ ?!
11.g3! Qf6 12.Nb5! Rb8 (Kd8 ! 13.Be3 b6 14.Bg2 Rb8 15.0-0 Ba6 16.Bd4 Qf5
17.a4 Nf6 18.Re1 with good chances for White according Wind) 13.Be3 b6
14.Bd4 Qe6+ 15.Be2 and the White attack is very promising.

F4 : 10. .. Nf6 ?

11.Nb5 Bxd6 12.Nxd6+ Kf8 13.Bc4 Qe7+ 14.Kf1, White has a winning attack
(Brause-DDoha,1997,1-0(19))

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 19
G. Deviations on the 11th move
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8
9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5

G1 : 11. .. Rb8 ?!
The Plasma variation

Brause inconsistently played 12.Be3 here. Schiller’s recommendation is

12.Qe2. Both lines lead to the same board position after two further
moves, but there is a nice trap in the Schiller’s move order.

12.Qe2+ Kd8 13.Be3 b6 (13. .. Bxd6? 14.Bd4!)

14.0-0-0 Qe6
[ 14. .. Ba6? 15.Re1 Bxb5 16.Bxb6+ Kc8 17.Qxb5 gambitlover-kidman,
TheChessKnights,2005,1-0(17) ]

White has a very strong attack. Two examples :

15.Nc7 Qxa2 16.Bxb6 Nf6? 17.Ne6+ Ke8 18.Nxg7#

15.f5 Qxf5 16.Qc4 Qe5 17.Qc7+ Ke8 18.Bd4 Minchev,G- A Petrov,TCh-BUL

Svishtov BUL,1994,1-0(25)

G2 : 11. .. Nxf4 !
This seems to be a new, but very critical variation in the Nc6 line!

gambitlover-davidoff2,TheChessKnights,2005 went:

12.Nc7+ Kd8 13.Nxa8 Qe5+ 14.Kf2 Bxd6 15.Bd3 . . .

Time will tell, but I do not believe White has enough compensation after
15. .. Nxd3+ 16.cxd3 b6 17.Qf3 Qf6 18.Qxf6+ Nxf6 19.Bg5 Bb7 20.Bxf6+ gxf6
21.Nxb6 axb6.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 20
Ng6 section

Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4

[ 7.Qf3? is not recommended as Black forces White into an inferior line

after 7. .. c6! 8.Bc4 d5!; Nor is 7.Bd3? good, for after 7. .. Bb4! Black
can consolidate ]

This is a key position and Black has several possibilities. We will discuss

A. 7. .. c6; B. 7. .. d6; C. 7. .. d5; D. 7. .. Bb4; E. 7. .. Nh4

A. 7. .. c6
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6

The Cordel variation, not Black’s best choice.

A1 : 8.Qe2 !

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 21
was played by Brause in earlier days hoping for 8. .. d5 which gives White
a dangerous check by taking “en passant” as in Brause-lhg,ICS,1997,0-1(17):
9.exd6+ Kd7 10.Ne4 Qe8 11.d5 f5 12.dxc6+ bxc6 13.Be6+ Kd8 (Qxe6 not being
possible because of the familycheck on c5 ) 14.Bg5+ Nf6 15.Nxf6 Qxe6
16.Nd5+ Ke8 17.Nc7+ 1-0.

A11 : 8. .. Be7 ?!
And Black lost quickly after 9.Ne4 d5? (Kf8!) 10.exd6 in Schlenker,R-
Schorer,F,1993, 1-0(10). But Black can do better and 8...b5 and 8. .. Qb6
were critical lines referring to 8. .. b5 9.Nxb5 cxb5 10.Bxf7+ Kxf7
11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Qxa8 Qc7 ! Brause-fluster,ICS,1997,0-1(45) and 8. .. Qb6
9.f4 Nh6 10.0-0 Nf5 ! Brause- lichtzahn,ICS,1997,0-1(51).

So Brause switched over to the 8.Qf3 variation, but chess evolution never
stops. Nowadays M. Wind again recommends 8.Qe2 ! based on following
analyses. The plan is 9.Ne4 followed by either Nd6+, Ng5, Bg5 or f2-f4-f5.

A12 : 8. .. Qb6 !

A121. 9.f4 ?!

9. .. Nh6 !

a) 10.Qe4 10...Be7 11.f5 Nxf5 12.Bxf7+ Kxf7 13.Qxf5+ Ke8-+

b) 10.g4 Qxd4 11.Be3 Nxf4 12.Bxd4 Nxe2 13.Bxe2 d5 14.h3 (14.exd6 Bxg4
15.Bxg4 Nxg4 16.h3 Nh6 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Rdf1 f6 19.Bxa7 Bxd6 -+) 14...Ng8
15.Rd1 h5 16.g5 Ne7 17.Bd3 Bf5 18.Ne2 Bxd3 19.Rxd3 Ng6 20.Rf1 Be7 21.Rb3 b6
22.e6 0-0 23.exf7+ Rxf7 24.Rxf7 Kxf7 25.Ng3 -+;

c) 10.0-0 Nf5 11.Be3 d5 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Ne4 0-0 14.Nxd6 Nxd6 15.Bb3 Re8 -+;

d) 10.Ne4 Be7 11.Nd6+ (11.f5 Nxf5 12.Rf1 Nxd4 13.Bxf7+ Kd8 14.Qd1 Nxe5
15.c3 Nxf7 16.Rxf7 Re8 17.Qd3 d5 18.cxd4 Bh4+ 19.Kf1 Rxe4 -+) 11...Bxd6
12.exd6+ Kd8 13.0-0 Nf5 14.Bxf7 Qxd4+ 15.Rf2 Nxd6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 -+

A122. 9.Ne4!

a) 9. .. Ne7?! 10.c3! [10.Nd6+? keiserpaul-agropolis,GK,2003,0-1(40)]

10. .. c5 11.h4 cxd 12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.exd+ Kf8 14.h5 Qxd6 15.hxg Qxg6 (“with
a slight edge for White” analyse G. Giffen)

b) 9. .. Qxd4 10.c3 Qb6

[10...Qxe5? 11.f4 Nxf4 12.Bxf4 Qxf4 13.Nd6+ Kd8 14.Nxf7+ Kc7 15.g3 Qf6
16.Rf1+- ]

Now White has to choose between the logical Be3 and the aggressive f4.

b1) 11.Be3 !?

11. .. Qc7 12.f4 ?! (12.Bd4 Qb8 13.0-0) gambitlover-dedantas,

The Chess Knights,2005,0-1(45)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 22
11. .. Qa5, CM9000 used to play this line,
12.f4 “with excellent compensation” (Wind) e.g. 12...Nh6 13.b4 Qd8 14.0-0
Be7? 15.Nd6+
12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.exd6 Kf8 14.0-0 b6 is slightly better for Black

b2 ) 11. f4 !

11. .. Qa5 12.0-0 b5 13.Nd6+ Bxd6 14.exd6+ Kf8 15.Bxf7 Kxf7 16.f5 Nf6
17.fxg6+ Kxg6 18.Rxf6+ gxf6 19.Qg4+ +-(Giffen)

11. .. Nh6 12.h4! c5!

[12...f5?? loosens the kingside too much according to an analysis of Glenn
Giffen 13.Be3! Qa5 ( 13...Nxf4?? 14.Bxf4 fxe4 15.0-0-0+-) 14.b4 Qd8
(14...Qc7 15.Nd6+ Kd8 16.Rd1 b5±; 14...Qa3 15.Bc1 Qa4 16.Nd6+ Bxd6 17.exd6+
Kd8±) 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.exd6 Kf8 and White's attack should be strike home.]
[12... Be7 13.h5 Nh4 followed by 14.g3, g4 or f5 with complications (Wind)]

13.g4!? Be7 14.h5 d5 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.exd6+ Kf8 17.hxg6 Qxd6 18.f5 dxc4
19.Rxh6 Qg3+ 20.Kf1 fxg6 21.Be3 b6 22.Re1 Be6 23.Rh2 Bd5 24.Qf2 Qxf2+
25.Rxf2 Unclear endgame, but White can hope for a draw.

13.h5! Ne7 14.Nd6+ Kd8 15.g4 Kc7 16.f5 (Analyse Giffen).

A13 : 8. .. b5 !?

A131 : 9.Bb3

The straight forwarded 9. .. a5 !? leads to a dynamic situation in which

Black has chances (Wind). 10.Qf3 f6 11.Ne4 (Nxb5 !?) d5 12.exd6 was
keiserpaul-cgifalcon,GK,2003,1-0(27).

9. .. Bb4 ! 10.0-0

a) 10. .. Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qe7 [11...N8e7? 12.f4 d5 13.exd6 Qxd6 14.f5] 12.a4
bxa4 13.Rxa4 d6 14.c4 unclear.
b) 10. .. N8e7! is a very strong move 11.Nxb5 0-0 12.a3 cxb5 13.axb4 d6.
White get 3 pawns for the piece, but this seems not to be enough in
practical play lexherman-atrifix,GK,2003,0-1(55).

9. .. Qb6?! 10.0-0 Ba6 11.Qe4! b4 12.Na4 leaded to a quick win for White in
Van der Houwen,P-Fraikin,E,HGT2,2004,1-0(22)

A132 : 9.Bd3 ?!

This allowed Black to exchange quickly the dangerous bishop in

Hoynck,F- Wind,M,HGT2,2004,0-1(31)
9. .. N8e7! 10.h4 h5 11.a4 Qb6! 12.Ne4 Nd5 13.c3 Ndf4

A14 : 8. .. Bb4!
White can regain at least two pawns by 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qc4+
10. .. d5 11.exd6+ Be6 12.Qxb4 Qb6 13.Qc5 Nf6 14.Be3, equal,
Keiser,P-Werksma,A,HGT2,2004, 0-1(53).
10. .. Kf8 11.Qxb4+ Qe7 12.Qxe7+ N8xe7 13.b3 [13.Ne4!?] 13...Nf5
14.Ba3+ Kf7 15.0-0-0 d5 [15...Rd8!? 16.g4 Nfh4 17.f3 unclear, analyse
Claus-Jürgen Heigl ] 16.exd6 Re8 17.g3 b6 18.f3 Bb7 19.Ne4 Ke6 20.c4 c5

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 23
21.Bxc5! Kd7 22.Rhe1 bxc5 23.Nxc5+ Kc6 24.d7 unclear Hoynck-
Torrecillas,HGT1,2003,0-1(55)

An alternative is the sharp but dubious 9.0-0

9. .. d5!? 10.exd6+ Kf8 11.Ne4 Bxd6 12.f4? Werksma,A-Go,B,HGT2,2004,0-1(27)
9. .. Bxc3 10.bxc3 Qe7 [ 10. .. N8e7?! and White has an attack with 11.Ba3
0-0 12.f4 d5 or 11.f4 0-0 12.Bd3 (12.g4! Wind) Qa5 13.f5 Qxc3 ] 11.Qf3
Torrecillas,A-Werksma,A,HGT1,2003, 1-0(33)

A15 : 8. .. d5!?
9.exd6+ Kd7 10.d5 Bxd6 11.dxc6+ bxc6 12.Be3 Kc7 13.0-0-0 Nf6 14.Bxf7 Ne5
15.Bb3 Qe7 16.Rhe1 Re8 17.Qd2

A2 : 8.Qf3 ?!

A21 : 8...f6 !?
seems logical, looking for breathing space, but after 9.0-0 d5?! (Black
cannot take with the f- pawn on e5 due to the matt on f7, but 9. .. dxe5!
seems to be the best move) 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 N8e7 White has an
impressive queen offer with 12.Qxf6 ! gxf6 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Bh6 # Brause-
Pfiffigunde,ICS,1997,1-0(14).
Another idea is 9.h4 h5 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.0-0 with long term pressure in
Minchev,G-Di Tora,A,HGT2,2004,1-0(50)

A22 : 8...d5

9.exd6

We shall examine 3 continuations :

a) 9. .. Qf6?! leads to a disaster in Brause-BuffaloJim,ICS,1998, 1-0 (15)

10.Qe2+ Kd8 11.Ne4 Qxd4 12.Bxf7 ( O.A. Brownson has recommended 12.Be3 Qe5
13.0-0-0 “with a strong attack” in Brownson’s Chess Journal, november 1877)
12. .. Nh6? (Bf5 is better following an analysis of A. Torrecillas) 13.Bg5+
Kd7 14.Rd1 Qe5 15.Nc5+

b) 9. .. Nf6 was recommended by Brownson as “the best defense” against the

Halloween, who continues with 10.Qe2+ Kd7 “and Black’s development cannot
be retarded”. My opinion is that White still has some chances after
11.Nb5! [11. .. cxb5 is a mate in four 12.Bxb5+ Kxd6 13.Bf4+ ] 11...Bxd6
12.Nxd6 Kxd6 13.Bxf7 Qe7 14.Bxg6 Qxe2+ 15.Kxe2 hxg6 16.Bf4+.

c) But Black can also try 9...Be6! (recommended by Cordel) 10.Bxe6 fxe6
11.Ne4 Nf6 [or 11. .. Bxd6!? or 12.Qb3 ( 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxe7 N8xe7 -+) N8e7
13.Qxe6 Bb4+ 14.c3 -+]. Now Thiarcs6-TJunior46,1998,1-0(32) goes 12.Bg5
Qa5+ 13.b4 Qxb4+ 14.c3 but 11. .. Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Qf5 13.h4 h5 14.c4 Qxf3
15.gxf3 Nh6 is a better line and gives Black an advantage as shown by the
DB-statistics in which Black scores 88 % in 54 games.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 24
A3 : 8. f4!?

suggested and analysed by by G. Lhost is a playable alternative.

8. .. d5 and now

9.exd6?! was the original idea, but White's attack is not convincing 9. ..
Bxd6 10.0–0 N8e7 11.f5 Bxf5 12.Bxf7+ Kxf7 13.g4 Re8 14.gxf5 Nf8 15.Qh5+ Kg8
16.Bh6!? Nxf5 (16...gxh6? 17.f6) 17.Rxf5 gxh6 18.Kh1 Ng6 19.Rg1 Bf8 20.Ne2
Qe7 21.Re5 Qf7 22.Rf5 Qc4 23.Nf4 Qxd4 24.Nxg6 hxg6 25.Qxg6+ Bg7–+

9.Bd3 seems more promising 9. .. Bb4 (9. .. Qb6 !?) 10.0–0 N8e7 11.f5 Nf8
[11...Nh4 12.Bg5 (12.e6?! Nhxf5 13.Bxf5 Nxf5 14.Rxf5 Bxe6–+) 12...Qb6
13.Bxh4 Qxd4+ 14.Bf2 Qxe5 15.Qh5 followed by Rae1]
12.Qf3! [12.f6?! gxf6 13.exf6 Neg6–+] and the black King has to stay in the
middle for the next moves . Meanwhile White can mobilize all his pieces for
a King's side attack. P.e. 12...Ng8 [12...Bxc3 13.bxc3 opens the diagonal
a3-f8 for the White bishop; 12. .. Bb6 !? 13.Ne2 ] 13.Ne2 Nd7 14.Qh5
followed by c3.

B. 7. .. d6
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d6

Considered by Wind as the gambit’s main line.

B1 : 8.Qf3 Qd7

B12 : 9.h4 ?!
not a good idea, after 9.h4 dxe5 10.h5 Nf4 11.dxe5 Ne6 12.0-0 c6, Black had
a solid position in judith-spikkel,GK,2003,0-1(19)

B13 : 9.0-0

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 25
 B131 : 9. .. dxe5

After 10. dxe5 we analyze, in detail, 5 replies:

(a) 10. .. c6
(b) 10. .. Nxe5
(c) 10. .. Bc5 ?!
(d) 10. .. Qf5 ?
(e) 10. .. Bb4 ?

a) 10. .. c6

11.Re1 Qc7 12.Ne4! Be6 [12...Nxe5?! 13.Qg3 f6 14.Bf4] 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Ng5
“ with good compensation ” e.g. 14. .. Bb4 15.c3 Ba5 16.Nxe6, followed by
Qh3
The Brause move order was 12.Bg5 Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Rad1 Be7 15.Bxe7 N8xe7
16.Qg4 Nf5 17.Qc4 Qe7 18.Na4 0-0 19.Nc5 Rae8 20.Rd7 Brause-Cheops,ICC,
1998,1-0(33) but Black can play better and 14. .. N8e7 15.Qg4 Kf7 was
winning for Black in keiserpaul-mnislav,ICC,2002,0-1(39). Maybe 12.Be2!?
leading to a draw in faile-amyan,JW2-group,2000, ½-½ (29) needs more
attention.

b) 10. .. Nxe5

b1) 11.Re1 Bd6 [11...Qe7? 12.Rxe5! Qxe5 13.Qxf7+ Kd8 14.Qxf8+ Kd7 15.Be3+-
Torrecillas ] 12.Bf4 f6 and now we analyse in detail the nice move 13.Bb5
and the sounder alternative 13.Rad1.

b11) 13.Bb5!?, succesfull in practical play. Following moves are

based on an analysis of Antonio Torrecillas.
13... c6 14.Rad1! Qe6!
[14. ..cxb5!? 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Ne4 Bc7 17.Rxd7 Bxd7 =]
[14. ..Qc7 15.Nd5! = Jan Weide]
15.Qg3 Kf8
[15...g5?! 16.Bxe5 Bxe5 (16.. fxe5 17.Qxg5 Wind) 17.f4! Qg4!? (17...gxf4
18.Qg7) 18.fxe5 Qxg3 19.hxg3 cxb5 20.exf6+ Kf7 21.Rd8!+- ]
16.Bxe5
[Wind has 16.Bc4 Qe7! (16. .. Qxc4 17.Rxd6 Nf7 18.b3 Qa6 19.Nd5 “comp”)
17.Ne4 Bc7 18.Bxe5 fxe5 19.Re3 g6 (19. .. Nf6 20.Rf3 Ke8 21.Nxf6+ gxf6
22.Qh4 h5 23.Rxf6 Bg4 24.Qg5 Bxd1 25.Re6 Qxe6 26.Bxe6=) 20.Rf3+ Bf5
21.Qh3 Nf6 (21. .. Kg7 22.Rxf5 gxf5 23.Nc5! =) 22.Rxf5 gxf5 23.Qxf5 Rd8
24.Re1 Rd4 25.Bb3 Rxe4 “insufficient”.]
[16.Ne4!? Bc7 17.Ng5 Milov,V-Hoynck,F, HGT1,2003, ½-½,(34)]
16. .. Bxe5
[Wind however found 16. .. fxe5! 17.Bxc6 (17.Bc4 Qe7! 18.Ne4 Bc7 see
U1)(17.Qf3+ Qf6 18.Bxc6 Qxf3 19.Bxf3) 17. .. Qe7! 18.Qd3 bxc6 19.Qxd6
Qxd6 20.Rxd6 Bf5 21.Rxc6 Ne7 22.Rc7 Rc8 23.Rb7 with longtermed White’s
initiative]
17.f4 cxb5 18.fxe5 Qb6+ 19.Re3
[ Wind 19.Kh1 “with strong attack” ]
19. .. Bf5 20.Rd6 Qc5 21.Rd5+- Qc8
[21...Qb6 22.exf6 Qxf6 23.Rxf5 Qxf5 24.Rf3+-]
22.Qf4 Ne7 23.exf6 Nxd5 24.Nxd5 Qd7 25.fxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qd4+
[26.Qe5+ Kh6 27.Rh3+! Bxh3 28.Qf6+ Kh5 29.Nf4+ Kg4 30.gxh3+ Kf3 31.Nd3+]
26...Kg8 27.Nf6+ Kf7 28.Nxd7 Brause-resurrection,ICC,1998,1-0(28).

b12) After 13.Rad1 we have to consider 13. .. Qf5 and 13. .. Ne7

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 26
 13. .. Qf5? 14.Nb5! Kf8 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Qb3 “ Black can barely defend
his position ” (Wind) (but 16.Qd5?! went wrong in keiserpaul-hjobo,GK,2003,
0-1(47) ) 16. .. g6 17.Nxd6 cxd6 18.Rxd6 Nf6 19.Qc3 Ne4 20.Rxe4 Qxe4 21.Bd3
Qf4 22.Rd8+ Kg7 23.Qc7+ Bd7 24.Rxd7+ Kh6 25.g3 lexherman-fliszt,GK,2003,
1-0(63)

13. .. Ne7 14.Bxe5 fxe5 15.Ne4?! My opinion is that after 15. .. Rf8!
16.Qh5+ Kd8 17.Qxh7 Qg4 18.h3 Bf5 19.hxg4 Bxh7 20.Nc5 Nc6 21.Ne6+ Ke7
22.Nxf8 Black is clearly better, so the 15.Bb5! line is preferable, but
even after 15. .. Nc6 (15. .. c6 16.Ne4 !), 16.Rxe5+ Nxe5! 17.Bxd7+ Bxd7
18.Qxb7 Bc6 19.Qb3 0-0-0 the black position is slightly better. Van der
Houwen-Werksma,HGT2,2005,0-1(33)

b2) 11.Qe3! is an amazing suggestion of Stefan Bücker and leads to an

unclear position in which White has good chances.

11. .. Qe7 12.Nd5 Nxc4 (Qd6 was played in Wind-Minchev,HGT2, 2004,1-

0(49) 13.Qg3 Qd6 14.Nxc7+ Kd8 15.Bf4 Kxc7 16.Bxd6+ Nxd6 17.c4 b6 18.b4 Ba6
19.Rfc1

11. .. Bd6 12.f4 Qe7 13.fxe5 Bc5 14.Bxf7+ Kd8 15.Rd1+ Bd7 16.e6 Bxe3+
17.Bxe3 Nf6 18.Nd5 Bxe6 19.Nxe7+ Kxe7 20.Bxe6 Kxe6 Hoynck-Go,HGT2,2004,½-
½,(38)

b3) 11.Qe2!? is a similar idea. The move was first played in aditora-
keiserpaul,GK,2004,1-0,(22)

11. .. f6! is the best reply. 12.Bxg8 (12.Bf4 Qd4-+) 12. ..Rxg8 13.f4
Qd4+ (13. .. Qg4! 14.Rf3 Bd7 15.fxe5 0-0-0 gambitlover-mlazar,TheChess
Knights,2005,0-1(42)) 14.Be3 Qc4 15.fxe5 Qxe2 16.Nxe2 fxe5, for the
isolated plus pawn White has some compensation by the better development
and attacking possibilities.

11. .. Bd6? 12.f4 Bc5+ 13.Kh1 Qe7 14.fxe5+-

11. .. Qe7?! 12.Nd5 (now Nxc4 is no more possible as in the 11.Qe3

line)
12. .. Qd6 [12...Bg4!? 13.Qe4 Nf6 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qxb7 Rd8 16.Bb5+=]
13.Bf4 [13.f4? Qc5+] 13...f6 14.Rad1 Be7 15.Rfe1

c) 10. .. Bc5 ? !

was a difficult move to refute. 11.e6 nor 11.Re1 seemed to be sufficient

to stop black’s superiority (keiserpaul-fastplayer,GK, 2003,0-1 (25)).
Nevertheless, there is a better reply with 11.Bg5! p.e. 11. .. Nxe5 12.Rfe1
f6 13.Rad1 Qe7 (Qf5!?) 14.Rxe5 Qxe5 15.Bf4 Qf5 16.Nb5 with an unclear
situation, but I prefer White e.g. 16. .. Bb6 17.Qe2+ Be6 18.Nxc7+ Bxc7
19.Bxc7 Qg4 20.Qxe6+

d) 10. .. Qf5 ?

11.Bb5+ Kd8 12.Qd5 was zolltantor-lexherman,GK,2003,1-0 (12)).

e) 10. .. Bb4 ?

11.Rd1 Nxe5 12.Qg3 Qf5 13.Re1! and White has a won position , Daniel
Godden-Domenico Lorenti,IECG email corr,2000,1-0(18)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 27
 B132 : 9. .. Qf5 !?

a) 10.Qe3 dxe5 11.f4 e4 [11...Nxf4?! 12.dxe5 g5 13.Nd5] 12.Nxe4 (intending

Ng3 and f4-f5) 12. .. N6e7!?

[or 12...Be7 13.Bd3

13. .. Kf8! 14.Bd2 Nh4 !
13. .. Nf6 offers the black queen for 3 light pieces + initiative 14.Nd6+
cxd6 15.Bxf5 Bxf5 16.Qb3! {16.h3 was Van der Houwen,P-Hoynck,F,HGT2,2004,0-
1(39)} 16. .. 0-0 17.Qxb7 Bxc2 18.f5 =]

and now :

a1) 13.Bd2 Bd7 14.d5 Nf6 15.Ng3 Qg4 ?! was played in Wind-Keiser,
HGT1, 2003,1-0 (33) where White steadily increased the pressure until
black's position crumbled away. But in keiserpaul-spikkel,GK, 2003,0-1(40))
15. .. Qxc2! was played and this looks critical. The game continued 16.Rac1
Qa4 17.Qe5 b5 18.Bb3 Ng4 19.Qc3
[ 19.Qxc7? failed on Qd4+ 20.Kh1 Rc8 21.Qa5 Nf2+ 22.Rxf2 Rxc1+ 23.Bxc1
Qxf2-+; 19.Qe2! was suggested by Wind but A) 19...Qa6 20.f5 Qb6+ 21.Kh1
Nf6 22.Be3 (22.Bf4) looks better for Black and so is B) 19...Qd4+ 20.Kh1
Rc8 21.h3 (21.Ba5; 21.Ne4; 21.f5) 21...Nf6 22.Bc3 ]
19...Qa6 20.Qxc7

a2) 13.Bd3! Qa5

[ 13. .. Qd7! 14.f5 Nh6 15.f6? (15.Qe2! M.Wind unclear) keiserpaul-
Morphy,GK,2003,0-1(32))(13. .. Qe6 14.f5 Qb6 15.Nc5 Nf6 16.a4 a5 17.Bc4 Bd7
18.Ra3)(13. .. Nd5? 14.Nf6+ is very nice ]
14.f5 Bd7 15.b4! and White has a strong attack :
15. .. Qb6 16.a4 0-0-0 (Fritz opts for a6 after a long thinking
period) 17.a5 Qxb4 18.c3 anomia2-keiserpaul,GK, 2005, ½-½(41)
15. .. Qxb4?! 16.c4 Qa5 17.Rb1 0-0-0 18.Nc5 .

a3) 13.Re1!? Nf6 14.Ng5 Nfd5 15.Qb3 c6 16.Bd2! b5 17.Bd3 Qd7 18.f5!
losloper-keiserpaul,GK,2003,1-0(32)

b) 10.Qe2?! is not good as it allows the embarrassing reply, Qg4.

Antonio Torrecillas brought under attention that Black can play 10. .. dxe5
11.f4 e4! 12.Nxe4 and now not 12...Be7? as in Brause-MeWithMyself,
ICC,1997,1-0 (16) but instead, 12...N6e7! could get White into trouble!

c) 10.Bb5!? is weakening the black King and leads to very sharp play in
which White has good chances. 10. .. Kd8

c1) 11.Qe3?! dxe5 12.Bd3 exd4 13.Qxd4+ Qd7 14.Qe3 Nf6 15.f4 c6 16.f5 Bd6
and Black was better in felixmiszta-allkarlos,GK, 2003,0-1(42)

c2) 11.Qg3!? dxe5 12.Bg5+ f6 [12...Be7 is better 13.Rad1 e4 14.Bxe7+

N8xe7 15.Rfe1 Qg4 -+] 13.dxe5 c6 14.Rad1+ Bd7 15.e6 Qxe6 16.Rfe1 and now

16. .. Qf5 17.Bc4 Qxg5 18.Rxd7+! Kxd7 19.Rd1+ Ke8 20.Qc7 Be7 21.Qxb7 Rd8
22.Qxc6+ Kf8 23.Rxd8+ Bxd8 24.Qd7 Qc1+ 25.Nd1 +-

16. .. Qf7 17.Be2 N8e7 18.Bg4 Nd5 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Qb3! Kc7 [20...Bxg4?
leads to a disaster for Black 21.Rxd5+ Bd7 22.Qxb7 Rc8 23.Bd2 Bc5 24.Ba5+
Bb6 25.Bxb6+ axb6 26.Qxb6+ +-] 21.Rxd5 Bc6 22.Qg3+ Kb6 topstock-
keiserpaul,GK,2005,1-0(38)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 28
B133 : 9. .. c6!
10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Re1+ (11.Ne4 !?) Kf8 12.Ne4 ( 12.d5 Nf6 13.dxc6 Qxd6 was
winning for Black in Maciaga-Milov,V,HGT1,2003,(20)) ) 12. .. Bb4 (12. ..
Nh4! 13.Qh5 Nf5) 13.c3 Ba5 (“ and White has excellent compensation ” Wind)
Wind,M-Van der Kraan,M,KNSB,1991,1-0(19) continued 14.b3 f6 15.Ba3+ N6e7?
[15...N8e7 16.Nd6] 16.Qh5 g6 17.Qxa5 Kg7? 18.Nxf6 Kxf6 19.Qe5#

B2 : 8.Qf3 Be6

In this case White can safely take the b7 pawn 9.Qxb7 Bxc4? [ On 9. .. N8e7
White can play 10.Nb5 Rc8 11.d5 Nxe5 12.dxe6 Nxc4 13.Nxa7 Rb8 14.Qa6 Nxb2
15.Nc6 Nxc6 16.Qxc6+ Ke7 17.0-0 Rb6 18.Qf3 f6 “with long term compensation“
(M. Wind) ] 10.Qc6+ Ke7 11.exd6+ cxd6 12.Qxc4 Brause-godel,ICC,1998,1-0(20)

B3 : 8.Qf3 f5 ?!
Stefan Bücker’s analyse of this line goes
9.g4! (9.h4 ?!) Nh4 [9...N8e7 10.gxf5 or 10.Bg5] 10.Qe2 dxe5 (10 .. Be7!?
11.h3?! [Wind suggests 11.gxf5! followed by 12.Rg1] and Black won in
Werksma, F,-Steenbekkers,E,HGT1, 2003,0-1(27))
11.Bd2. He gives as example 11. .. Qxd4?! 12.0-0-0 Bd6 13.f4! Ng6 14.Rhf1
e4 15.Nd5 +=.
Other eleventh moves have been tried. In lexherman-anomia2,GK,2003,1-0(24)
White launched a winning attack after 11. .. Be7 12.dxe5 Ng2+ 13.Kf1 Nh4
14.Rd1. This was also the case in keiserpaul-sodiumattack,GK, 2003,1-0(21),
after 11. .. c6 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.dxe5 fxg4 13.Ne4. While Jerez,A-
Blokhuis,J,HGT1,2003,1-0(49) went 11. .. e4 12.0-0-0 Be7 (but 12. .. Bb4!
was strong in Starostits,I-Wind,M,HGT2,2004,0-1(24)) 13.gxf5 Bxf5 14.Nxe4.

G.M. Vadim Milov played 9.Bd2 !? against M. Wind and even tried a second
piece sacrifice with 9. .. c6 10.0-0-0 d5 11.Nxd5!? Milov-Wind, HGT1,2003,
0-1 (24)

B4 : 8.Qf3 f6 ?!
a) 9.0-0 ?! leads to long battle games in which Black has the best chances
9. .. dxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Qe4 (11.Re1? Bd6 -+)

11. .. Bc5 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.Nd5 Qd6 14.b4 Bb6 15.Bb2 Ne7 16.Nxb6 Qxb6
17.Bxe5 Bf5 18.Qf4 fxe5 19.Qxe5 Bxc2 20.Rd2 Bg6 21.Qxg7 Rf8 22.Re1 Qf6
23.Qxf6 Rxf6 24.Rde2 THiarcs6- Fritz5,Blitz,1998,1-0(82)

Wind has 11. .. Qe7 ! 12.Nd5 Qc5 13.Bb3 Bd6 14.Be3 Qa5 15.f4 f5 16.Qd4
c5 17.Qd1 Nf7 and White has not enough for the piece
11. .. Ne7 12.Rd1 Bd7 13.Be6 Qc8 14.Rxd7! Nxd7 15.Be3 Nc6 16.Rd1 Bd6 17.Nb5
Ke7 18.Bh3+ Kd8 19.Rxd6 cxd6 20.Nxd6 Qc7 21.Nf7+ Kc8 22.Nxh8+=

b) 9.h4! (Wind) dxe5 (9. .. c6 10.h5 N6e7 11.exd6 Qxd6 12.Ne4; 9. .. a6

10.h5 N6e7 11.Bf4!) 10.h5 N6e7 11.Be3! exd4 ( 11. .. Nf5 12.0-0-0) 12.0-0-
0 c5 13.Bf4 a6 14.Rhe1, with a very strong attack.

B5 : 8.Qf3 Qe7

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 29
 B51 : 9.Bg5 ?
Insufficient according to Wind 9. .. Qxg5 10.Bxf7+ Kd8 11.Bxg6 Nf6 12.Be4
Nxe4 13.Qxe4 c6

B52 : 9.0-0
And now 9. .. dxe5. Bücker / Wind made following co-analysis of this line :

a) 10.Bb5+?! Kd8 11.Rd1

a1) 11. .. c6 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Qxc6 Rb8 14.dxe5+ Bd7 15.Nb5 Rc8 16.Qb7
Qe6 17.Nxa7 Rxc2 18.Qb8+

a2) 11. .. e4! 12.Nxe4 Nh4 13.Qf4 Nf6 [13...Nf5 14.Bd2 Ngh6 15.Re1 a6
16.Nc5 axb5 17.Rxe7 Bxe7 Starostits-Werksma,HGT1,2003,½-½(27)]] 14.Ng5
Bg4 15.f3 h6 16.Ne4 Ng6 17.Qg3 Bd7 18.Bd3 Nh5

b) 10.Nd5! (Stefan Bücker)

b1) 10...Qd7 11.dxe5 c6 12.Rd1! Nxe5 13.Qe2 Ne7 14.Qxe5 cxd5 15.Rxd5
f6 16.Qe2 Qc7 17.Rd4 g5 18.Bxg5 fxg5 19.Qh5+ Ng6 20.Qf3 Bd7 [20. ..
Ne5 gambitlover-Chuck, TheChessKnights,2005,1-0(31)]
21.Qf7+ Kd8 22.Rad1 Be7 23.Bb5 Kc8 24.Rxd7±;

b2) 10...Qd8! 11.Nb6 Be6

b21) 12.Bb5+ c6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Qxc6+ Ke7 15.Qb7+ Kf6 16.Qf3+

(16.Nxa8?! Bd6 17.Qe7+) 16...Ke7 17.Qb7+ ²;

b22) 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Nxa8 Qxa8 14.dxe5 N8e7 15.Qe4 Nc6 16.Be3 Be7
17.f4 0-0 18.c3;

b23) 12.Nxa8 Qxa8 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.dxe5 N8e7 leaded to an early draw
in Morin,S-Werksma,A,HGT2,2004,½-½(22)]

b3) 10...Qd6 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Re1 Be6 13.Rxe5! Qxe5 14.Bf4 Bxd5 15.Bxd5
Qf5 16.Bxb7 Bd6 17.Qe3+ Qe6 18.Bc6+ Ke7 19.Bxa8+-]

B53 : 9.Bb5+
9. .. Kd8 10.0-0 c6 11.exd6 Qxd6 12.Ne4 Qc7? (Qd5! -+) was luciogaribaldi-
premium_steve,GK,2003,1-0(19).

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 30
B6 : 8.Qe2 ?

I found two games of Grigor Minchev with this variant which he both won.
However, I cannot recommend this move.

8. .. dxe5 9.dxe5 and now

B61 : 9. .. c6
10.0-0 Qh4 11.Ne4! Nxe5 12.Bg5 Qg4 13.f3 Qh5 14.Rad1 f6 15.Nxf6+! gxf6
16.Qxe5+! Be7 17.Qc7! fxg5? (17. .. Kf8 ! -+) 18.Rfe1 Kf8 19.Bxg8
Minchev,G-Velev,V,Bulgaria,1998,1-0(28)

B62 : 9. .. Bb4 !

10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Be6(gambitlover-adamette,The Chess Knights,2004,0-

1,(30)

10.Bxf7+ ?! Kxf7 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qxb4 Nxe5 13.Qxb7 Nf6 14.Bf4 Nc4 15.0-0 Rb8
16.Qxa7 Rxb2 17.a4 Qb8 18.Qxc7+ Qxc7 19.Bxc7 Rc8 20.Bf4 -+

C. 7. .. d5
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d5

Euwe’s recommendation of 7.. . .d5 should not be underestimated,

on the contrary !

8. Bxd5

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 31
C1 : 8...N8e7 !?

9.Bb3?! could be a critical line. 9. .. Nf5! 10.Ne2 c5 11.c3 cxd4 12.cxd4

Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.Qxd2 0-0 and it is doubtful White has enough
compensation with two pawns for the piece.

Wind has recommended 9.Bg5! Qd7

[9...h6 10.Qf3; 9...c6 10.Bb3 h6 11.Be3 Nf5 12.0-0 Bb4 {12. .. Qh4 13.Qd3
Bb4 14.Ne4 0-0 15.c3 Ba5 16.Ld2 (idea f4)} 13.Ne4 0-0 14.Qh5 Nge7 15.c3
(keiserpaul-themagus,GK,2005,1-0(43)]
10.Be4 Nf5
[In keiserpaul-klausbehrmann,GK, 2003, 0-1(56) was played 10. .. h6 11.Be3
Nf5 12.0-0 Be7 13.Qd3 0-0 14.Rad1 c6 15.Bc1 Rd8 16.Ne2 a5 but White went
wrong with 17.g4?! (17.f4! was necessary)]
11.Be3 Be7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Qd3 Wind claims that with two pawns and a strong
center, White gets fair chances, but I prefer Black. Later Wind played
11.Qh5 c6 12.Be3 c6 13.d5 in a game against Werksma which ended in a draw
(Wind-Werksma,HGT1,2003, ½-½ (22)).
Recently Peter Van der Houwen played the sharp 11.Qd3 with good result 11.
.. Nxd4 12.0-0-0 c5 13.e6! fxe6 14.f4 Van der Houwen-Go,HGT2,2004,1-0(31)

Another trial was 9.Be4?! Nf5 10.Ne2. Zolltantor-keiserpaul, GK,2003,1-0

(40) went 10. .. Be7 11.c3 0-0 12.Ng3 , but I found no answer to 10. .. c5
as in keiserpaul-snaga,GK,2003,0-1(25).

C2 : 8. .. Bb4 ?!
This also has been tried and gives White a good game with 3 pawns for the
piece. 9.Qf3 attacks the pawns at b7 and f7. Black cannot defend them both.

9. .. Qd7 10.Bxb7 Bxb7 11.Qxb7 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Rd8 13.Rb1 N8e7 14.0-0 0-0
15.Ba3 Rfe8 16.Qxa7 Brause-oldtimer,ICS,1997,1-0(27)

9. .. Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Be6 11.Bxb7 Rb8 12.Bc6+ gambitlover-mech,Chess21

Blitz,2005,1-0(20)

C3 : 8. .. c6 !
Where to put the bishop now ?

C31 : 9. Bb3 !
is one possibility leading to a difficult game. But in my opinion it is the
best choice and preferable to 9. Be4. We will now discuss the replies
9. .. Bb4 and 9. .. Be6

C311 : 9. .. Bb4!

and now we have the choice between 10.Qf3 or 10.0-0.

a) 10.Qf3!? Bxc3+ (10. .. Be6! Fraikin,F-Hoynck,F,HGT1,2003,0-1(30))

11.bxc3 Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 and now play can continue with 13.Rb1 Qc7 14.h4.
Unfortunately there is no practical experience with these moves.

b) 10.0-0 Bxc3 (10. .. Ng8e7?! 11.Ne4! Bf5 12.Ng5 0-0 13.g4 Bc8 14.f4 f6
15.f5! fxg5 16.fxg6 Be6 17.c3 with some compensation) 11.bxc3 N8e7 (11. ..
Be6!? 12.f4 N8e7 13.g4 Bxb3 and with the pawn storm, White has good
compensation).

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 32
Wind has suggested 12.c4! here and then 12. .. 0-0
[ 12. .. Be6 13.c3 0-0 14.f4 Qd7 (14. .. b5!? 15.g4?! {15.cxb5! cxb5
16.Ba3] gambitlover-Nostradamus, TheChessKnights,2005,0-1(44)) 15.Ba3 Rfe8
16.Bd6 was played in Wind,M-Keiser,P,HGT2,2004,1-0(33) ]
13.c3 (with the idea of Ba3, Bd6. The immediate 13.Ba3 leaded to a
flattered draw in keiserpaul-invincible1,GK,2003, ½-½(29) ) 13. .. Qa5
14.Bd2 Be6 15.f4.

12.f4?! on the contrary seems not to be satisfactory. Black has the choice
between 3 flankmoves
12. .. a5 13.g4 Nd5 14.f5 Nh4 15.Qe1 h5 16.f6! (suggestion A.Torrecillas)
hxg4 (16...gxf6 17.exf6+ Be6 18.Qxh4) 17.Qxh4 Rxh4 18.fxg7 Qe7 19.g8Q+ Qf8
20.Qg5 atrifix-lexherman,GK,2003,½-½(40)
12. .. h5! 13.c4 Nf5 (13. .. Bg4 ! is critical keiserpaul-judith,GK,2003,
0-1(23))14.c3 Be6 15.d5 Qb6+ 16.Rf2 0-0-0 17.Qc2 , better than 17.Qd3?! in
Stevenson-Ferguson,Bunrattu Open,2001,0-1(29).
Wind also gives 12. .. Be6 13.g4!.

C312 : 9. .. Be6 ?!

a) 10.Bxe6! fxe6 Exchanging the bishops gives White good chances

11.0-0?! c5 12.d5 exd5 13.Nxd5 was firework in morphy(1886)-
felixmiszta(2274) ,GK,2003, ½-½(53), but after 11. .. Be7 12.Be3 Nh6 Black
has the better game.
11.Qg4! N8e7 12.Bg5 Qd7 13.0-0-0 and White has excellent compensation
Gbsalvio-keiserpaul,GK,2004,1-0(66).

b) 10.0-0 is no longer recommended. We look at 3 possible lines

10. .. N8e7 11.Ne4 [11.g4!? Qd7 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Ne4 Nc8 14.f4] 11...Nf5
12.c3 Qd7 [12...Be7 13.Qh5 0-0 14.Bc2] 13.Ng5 0-0-0 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.g4 Nfh4
(15. .. Nfe7! Was Steenbekkers,F-Maciaga,M,HGT1,2003, 0-1(40)) 16.f4.

Grigor Minchev has a lot of won games after 10. .. Qh4 ?! 11.f3 0-0-0
12.Ne4 Be7 13.c3 and White has fair chances with two pawns for the piece.

Critical however is 10. .. Bxb3! 11.axb3 and now

11. .. N8e7 12.Ne4 (12.g4! Nd5 13.f4! with a successful storm on the
flank in keiserpaul-xerox,GK,2003,1-0(28)) 12. .. Nf5 13.c3. White still
has some small chances after 13. .. Qd7 14.g4! Nfh4 15.f4 felixmiszta-
keiserpaul,GK,2003,1-0(52)) as well as after 13. .. Qd5! 14.Qg4! ( not
14.Re1?! Be7 which gave Black the advantage in keiserpaul-jh13,GK,2003,0-1
(32)).

But by 11. .. Qd7! 12.Ne4 a6! the rook on a8 is free to move and this
gives Black an edge. Mes,A-Spoel,C,Ned-ch M corr,1992,0-1,(22), continued
with 13.f4 Nh6 14.c3 0-0-0. In variations as 13.Re1 or 13.Bg5 Black will
prepare f5 or f6 dixit Van Hal. 13.Bg5 is recommended by Wind, he continues
with 13. .. h6 14.Be3 0-0-0 15.Qh5 Qe6 ( Qd5 looks better in my opinion )
16.f4 f5 17.Ng3 N6e7 18.c4 = . My recommended line goes 13.Re1 0-0-0 14.Bg5
f6 (14. .. Re8! 15.Qf3 f6 (h6 was keiserpaul-bigbutcher, GK,2004,0-1(30)
16.exf6 gxf6 17.Nxf6 Nxf6 18.Bxf6 however seems also better to Black)
15.exf6 gxf6 16.Nxf6 Qxd4 17.Qf3 Be7 18.Rad1 Qxd1, unclear. In Keiser,P-
Steenbekkers,F,HGT1, 2003,0-1(30), 13.Qe2 ? Qxd4 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6+ Kf8
was played. In all games mentioned, Black has an easy win.

11. .. f6 and now

12.Qe2 Be7 13.f4! Qxd4+ 14.Be3 Qd8 15.Ne4! (15.Rad1 !?) fxe5 (15. .. f5 !
16.Rad1 Qc8 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18.exd6 Qd7 keiserpaul-alias61,GK, 2003,0-1(39))

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 33
16.Rad1 Qc7 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Qh5+ (18.Bf4 !?) g6 (18. .. Ng6 19.Bd4 ) 19.Qh3
Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Qe6.
12.f4! f5 13.Qd3 Bb4 14.Qc4 Bxc3 15.bxc3 N8e7 16.Qd3 (Minchev,G-Donev,I,
Open,1994,1-0,(93)

C32 : 9. Be4 ?!
9. .. f5! (9. .. Be6 10.0-0 Qd7 11.f4! is evbad-Rookco,ICC, 1997,1-0(30))
Note that the exclamation mark is from the Halloween Gambit’s father,
Steffen A. Jakob

C321 : 10.Bf3

a) 10. .. Bb4 11.0-0 N8e7 12.Ne2 Be6 13.c3 and again : does White has
enough compensation with two pawns ?

b) 10. .. c5! is also a strong move 11.Nd5 N8e7 12.Bg5 Be6 13.c4 cxd4
14.Qxd4 Nc6 15.Qc3 and Black was winning in keiserpaul-bishop_vlad,GK,
2003,0-1(23)

c) 10. .. Nh4
The logical 11.0-0 fails on 11...Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 Qxd4 13.Bg5 Qg4 keiserpaul-
wagnerow,GK,2002,0-1(41). Better for White is Antonio Torrecillas
suggestion : 11.d5!? Bb4 (11...cxd5 12.Bxd5 Qa5 13.0-0 Bb4 14.Bg5 Ng6 15.e6
with Bxb7 in the air) 12.d6 Qa5 13.0-0 Be6 ( 13. .. Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Qxe5
15.Bf4 was winning in lexherman-felixmiszta,GK,2003,1-0(60)) 14.Bg5 Nxf3+
15.Qxf3

C322 : 10.exf6 !?

Another possibility is exchanging pawns 10.exf6!? Nxf6 11.Bg5 Bb4 12.Qd3

Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Kf7 14.0-0 Qd6 15.Bf3 Be6 16.c4 Brause-Oldtimer,ICS,1997,1-0
(40)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 34
D. 7. .. Bb4
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Bb4

Halloween’s Achilles’ heel ?

8.Qf3

In most cases the exchange of the Black bishop against the White knight at
c3 is just a matter of time. But there are a few exceptions.

D1 : 8. .. Bxc3+ 9.bxc3

This line is the only one in which White does not score positive (40%)
according to the “Gambit-Eroeffnungstabellen” from T. Born, 2001 .

D12 : 9 .. f5
Steffen A. Jakob calls this the Fritz4-Variation and gives it an
exclamation mark, which I do not agree with.

after 10.h4 (10.0-0 Minchev) N6e7, the old Brause move was to take the bis-
hop on g8 11.Bxg8 Rxg8 with indeed bad results for White, but 11.0-0 seems
to be a better move 11. .. h6 12.Qg3 Kf8 TJunior46-TFritz5,Blitz25,1-0(75)

D13 : 9. .. f6
10.0-0 Qe7 and we have reached the same position as after 9. .. Qe7 10.0-0
f6 (see below).

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 35
 D14 : 9. .. Qe7

D141 : 10. 0-0

We will carefully examine 8 possibilities

a) 10. .. Rb8?! to push the b7 pawn 11.Re1 b5 (spear variation according to

S. Jakob) (11. .. b6 12.Qg3 [idea Bg5] h6 13.h4 b5 14.Bd5 Kf8 15.a4 b4
16.h5 Nh4 17.cxb4 with equality, needs test) 12.Rb1 a6 13.Qg3 Rb7 14.Bg5
Qf8 15.Bd3 N8e7 16.h4 with a strong pawns attack Morin,S-Keiser,P,HGT2,
2004,1-0(35).
Grigor Minchev (who played a lot of Halloweengames in the period 1986-1995
and reached a highest rating of 2331), used to play 11.Qg3 and after 11. ..
h6 [11. .. b5?! Looked good after 12.Bg5 Qa3 13.Bb3 N8e7 14.f4 Nf5! in
gambitlover-jmaeris,The Chess Knights,2004,0-1,(34) but in the revenge
game 12.Rb1 proved to be better 12. .. a6 13.Qg3 h5 14.Bg5 h4 15.Qe3 Qa3
16.Qf3 Qf8 17.Bd3 gambitlover-jmaeris,The Chess Knights,2005,1-0(31)]
12.Bd3 but I do not think Black is bad after 12. .. b6 followed by an
attempt to exchange Queens on h4 if White pushes f2-f4.

b) 10. .. Nh6!. Anyone who is playing the Halloween on a regular base, must
be aware of the fact that he will meet this popular line sooner or later.
White can launch a Queen attack on the wing after the preparation move
g3 to prevent the black Queen settling at h4. 11.g3? 0-0 12.Qh5 d6 ( 12. ..
d5! 13.Bxd5 Bg4 14.Qg5 c6 15.Qxe7 Nxe7 16.Bg2 -+) 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.f4. This
is the classical Brause move, now after 14. .. dxe5 not 15.fxe5 Be6 and
White has nothing, but 15.f5!. Then 15...Nh8? fails on 16.f6! Black can
exchange Queens with 15. .. Qg5 and go for an equal endgame with 16.Qxg5
hxg5 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.Rae1 or with 15...exd4 16.fxg6 Qe3.
Wind’s earlier suggestion 11.Qd3? fails on 11. .. Qh4! 12.f4 Ne7
13.Ba3 Nhf5 14.Bxe7 Nxe7 15.f5 d5 16.exd6 cxd6 17.f6 gxf6 18.Rae1. Now
White has some chances but 18. .. f5! looks strong after 19.Qe2 Qf6 .
11.Bxh6 gxh6 looks natural and now 12.Rae1! is best (12.Qd3!? d6 13.f4
f5 14.Rae1 ; 12.Qe3!? d6 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Qxh6 Be5 15.d5) 0-0. Now Qd3 and
Qe3 are both playable :
13.Qd3 Kh8 14.f4 f5 15.exf6 Qxf6 16.f5 Ne7 17.Qg3 aditora-keiserpaul,GK,
2005,½-½(34).
13.Qe3! d6 14.f4 Nh4 15.Bd3 f5 16.c4 Ng6 17.Qf3 themagus-keiserpaul,GK,
2005,1-0,20(53)
A new idea is 11.Bd3!? 0-0 [11. .. Qh4?! 12.Re1 (roxanol-keiserpaul,
GK,2005,½-½(61))]

c) 10. .. f6!? 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.Qh5 Kf8 (12. .. h6! 13.f4 Kd8 =+) and now
13.Re1 (idea Re3) gives White a strong attack.

d) 10. .. c6 11.a4 Nh4 12.Qg3 Nf5 13.Qd3 g6 14.Ba3 Qh4 15.Rae1 Ngh6 16.Re4
Qg5 17.Bc1 Qh5 18.h3 Rg8 19.g4 Qh4 20.g5 Qh5 21.gxh6 Nxh6 Keiser,P-
Agalorian,L,Handel-Tournament,2001,1-0(72)

e) 10. .. d6 ? and after 11.Ba3 White must be able to get his own.

f) 10. .. d5 often leads to a strong White pawncenter, S. Jakob calls this

the EinsNull Variante (= One Zero Variation). 11.Bxd5 Nh4 12.Qh5 g6 13.Qe2
c6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.c4 Vasquez,F-jopasp,redhotpawn, 2004,1-0(31)

g) 10. .. Qf8?! 11.Re1 (idea Ba3) and White can launch an attack with his
center pawns.

h) 10. .. Nh4 is also considered by Schiller (“but I think it has its

merits”). There is no practice however, except for 5 Brause games won by
Black blunders. After 11.Qh5 Black’s best move is to return to g6.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 36
 D142 : 10. h4!?

If you do not wish to enter the critical lines of the Bb4 main line, the
agressive move 10.h4 !? can be played instead of castling. The game can
continue as follows :

10....Nxh4? 11.Rxh4 Qxh4 12.Qxf7+ Kd8 13.Qf8#

10. .. f6?! 11.h5 Nf8 12.0-0

12. .. fxe5 13.Re1 Ne6 14.Rxe5 c6 15.Qg3 [15.d5 cxd5 16.Bxd5 Nf6
17.a4!? Nxd5 18.Ba3 was roxanol-anomia2,GK,2005,½-½(26)] Nf6 16.f4 d6
17.Ba3 c5 18.Bxc5 dxc5 19.Rae1 0-0 20.Rxe6 Bxe6 21.Rxe6 Qf7 22.Re7 +-.
12. .. c6 13.Qg3 Ne6. Now 14.a4 was Werksma,A- Fraikin,E,HGT2,2004,
0-1(38) but the surprising 14.f4! looks better 14. .. f5 15.Ba3 Qxa3?
16.Bxe6 dxe6? 17.Qxg7
12. .. Ne6 13.d5 Ng5 14.Qg3 Ne4 15.Qg4 Nc5 16.d6 Qf8 17.Ba3 f5 18.Qf4
b6 19.Bxc5! bxc5 20.Qf3! keiserpaul- yozzer,GK,2005,1-0(25)

Other lines seem to advantage Black :

10. .. d6 11.h5 Nf8 12.0-0 dxe5 13.Re1 Ne6 14.Rxe5 c6 15.a4 Qd8 [15. .. Nf6
16.Ba3 Qc7 17.Qg3 = is gambitlover-fiskehoved,The Chess Knights,2005,½-
½(32)]

10. .. Qf8 11.a4 f6 12.Ba3 N6e7 13.Rh3 fxe5 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.dxe5

D143 : 10. Bd2 ?!

Black is challenged to play d7-d6 after which White hopes to get a

dangerous attack.

10. .. d6 11.0-0 dxe5 12.Bb5+ Kd8?! 13.Rfe1 Detlev Frank-Ernst

Drutjons,Pinneberg-ch,1992,1-0(16) but Black can consolidate with 12 … Kf8
13.Rfe1 Nf6! keiserpaul-anomia2,GK,2005,0-1,(29)

10. .. f6 11.0-0 fxe5 12.Rfe1 d6 13.Bb5+ Minchev,G- Emil Mitev,TCh-

BUL,1994,1-0(57)

D2 : 8. .. d5

9.Bxd5 Qd7 leads to positions with 4 pawns for the piece

10.Bxb7 Bxb7 11.Qxb7 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Rd8 13.Rb1 N8e7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Ba3 Rfe8
16.Qxa7 Brause-oldtimer,ICS,1997,1-0(27)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 37
D3 : 8. .. Qe7

D31 : 9.0-0
9. .. Bxc3 leads to the same positions as in the 8.Qf3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qe7
line at D141 above. Note that after 9. O-O, if Black does not play Bxc3,
then the White knight can jump to e4 with good effect as was seen in
felixmiszta-miskolin,GK,2003,1-0(27)

D32 : 9.h4 !?
After 9. .. Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 we have reached the D142 line above.

D33 : 9.Bd2 ?!
The idea to instal a bishop battery seems not to be a good idea. In
Keiser,P-Jerez,A,HGT2,0-1(27) the game continued as follows 9. .. Bxc3
10.Bxc3 Nh6 11.0-0-0 0-0 and Black had consolidated .

D4 : 8. .. f6
9.0-0

And in this line too, after White castles [and the exchange of Black bishop
for c3 Knight is avoided], the White Knight jumps to e4 with good effect.
9. .. c6 ?! 10.Ne4 b5 11.Bxg8 Rxg8 13.Qb3 was keiserpaul-davism, GK,2002,
1-0(27)

9. .. Bxc3 10.bxc3 Qe7 leads to the same positions as in the 8.Qf3 Bxc3+
9.bxc3 Qe7 10.0-0 f6 section but 10. .. d5 11.Bxd5 was a draw in
Torrecillas,A-Jerez,A,HGT1,2003, while 10. .. d5 11.exd6! cxd6 12.Ba3! as
in Torrecillas,A-Keiser,P, HGT1, 2003, were the best moves in this position
to obtain strong and lasting pressure against the black position (see the
whole game on pages 4-5).

9. .. dxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Qe4 Qe7 12.Nd5 Qc5 13.Bb3 Bd6 was Fraikin,E-
Wind,M,HGT1,2003,0-1(30)

D5 : 8. .. f5
This once was a critical line. Steffen A. Jakob gave this move an
exclamation mark and called it the Oldtimer variation. Now there are a lot
of games in the Braun DB (curiously enough there are none in which Oldtimer
played this line, although he used to play the move f5 in other lines) but
they do not at all convince me. Black could have played better in a lot of
cases as in Brause-brit,ICC,1998,1-0(20) 9.h4? d5 ( Schiller suggest 9. ..
Bxc3 10.bxc3 d6 “seems solid” ) 10.Bb3 c6 11.Bg5 Qc7 12.0-0-0 Bxc3 13.Qxc3
Be6 14.h5 Nf8 15.f3 Nd7 16.h6 g6 17.Rhe1 Ne7 18.Rd3 0-0-0 ? . With 18...Nc8
Black has a solid position.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 38
9. O-O is better than the Brause move. Now, after 9. .. N8e7 White can
safely play 10. Ne4 (keiserpaul-haksula,GK,2003,1-0(15)).

Bücker opts for 9.g4 ! Nh4 10.Qe2 dxe5 11.Bd2 and now
11. .. Qxd4 ?! 12.0-0-0 Bd6 13.f4! +=
11. .. fxg4 12.0-0-0 Nf3 13.Bf4 Bf5 14.dxe5 unclear
11. .. e4 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.gxf5 Bxf5 14.Nxe4 Qd7 15.Nc5 Qxd4 16.Ne6 Bxe6
17.Bxe6 Qc5 18.Qe4 c6 19.Rhg1 g5 20.Bd7+ Kf8 21.Bc3 Nf6 22.Qe6 Qf5 23.Qxf5
xf5 24.Bxf5 with advantage for White

E. 7. .. Nh4
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Nh4

A very sharp line, recently suggested by Stefan Bücker. The knight heads
for f5 and prevents Qf3. Bücker’s analysis goes

E1 : 8. g3 ?!

8. .. Nf5 9.Qf3 d6 10.g4 Nfh6 11.h3 c6

E2 : 8. 0-0

8...d6 9.Re1

E21 : 9. .. dxe5
10.Bg5 Be7 (10...Qxg5? 11.Rxe5+±) 11.Bxh4 Bxh4 12.Qh5 Fraikin,E-
Wind,M,HGT2,2004,0-1(29) ]

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 39
 E22 : 9. .. Be7

10.Qe2 Nf5 (10...c6 11.exd6 Qxd6 12.Ne4 Qd8 13.Bg5 Nf5 14.Rad1) 11.Bxf7+
Kxf7 12.e6+ Kf8 13.Qf3 g6 14.g4 Nf6 15.gxf5

10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Bg5 Nf5 [ 11...Ng6 12.Qf3 Nf6 13.Ne4 ]

12.Nd5 Kf8 13.Bf4 Qc6 14.Nxc7 Qxc4 15.Nxa8 Nf6 16.Be5 Nd5 17.c3 b5 18.Qf3
Be6 19.b3 or a4 equal

F. Deviations on the 6th move

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5

F1: 6. .. Qe7

F11 : 7. Bg5 ?

Was played by Brause in his early days. But Black simply gives the piece
back with a plus pawn and the better game.
7. .. Nxe5 8.dxe5 Qxe5+ Brause-OLMECA,ICC,1996,0-1(58)

F12 : 7. f4 ?!
After a short while with 7.Bg5 Brause always used to play this line. Black
consolidates after 7. .. d6 8.Be2 (8.Bb5+? c6 9.0-0 dxe5 10.fxe5 Ng8 -+)
8. .. dxe5 9.fxe5 Nd7 10.0-0 Nb6 11.a4 a5 Albarran-Wind,HGT,2003,0-1(20)

7. .. c6?! looks better for White 8.Be2 Nd5 9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.Qd3 f5!
7. .. d5 8.Qe2!

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 40
 F13 : 7. Qe2?!
7. .. Ng8 “compared to the main line position (6. .. Ng8) the queens are
now on e2 and e7 and this reduces White’s chances considerably” Wind. 8.h4
h5 9.Bg5 Qe6 10.Nb5 Bb4+! 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Qxd2 Kd8 -+

F14 : 7. Bb5 ?!
A difficult move to evaluate, but Black seems to have best chances.

F141 : 7. .. c6

8.0-0

a) 8. .. cxb5 9.Bg5 d5 [9...Nxe5? 10.dxe5 Qc5 11.Re1 Ng8 12.Ne4+-]

10.Qd3 [10.exf6?! Qd6 11.Nxb5 Qb6 12.Re1+ Be6 13.c4 dxc4 14.Nc3 0-0-0 15.d5
Bd7]
10...a6 11.Rae1 Be6 12.f4 h6 13.exf6 Qd6 14.Rxe6+ Qxe6 15.f5 Qd6 16.Re1+
Kd7 17.Bd2 (co-analysis Wind-Bücker)

b) 8...Ng8 9.Bc4 [amazing is Michiel Wind’s suggestion 9.Ne4!? 9.cxb5

10.Nd6+ Kd8 11.Bd2 Kc7 12.Qf3 or 12.f4] 9...d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Ne4 Qc7
12.Qf3 f5!? (12...Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Ng5 Qd7 15.Re1 0-0-0 16.Nf7 Nh4
17.Qf4 g5 18.Nxg5 Ng6 19.Qf7) 13.Ng5 Nh6 14.Re1+ Be7 15.Qh5 (analysis Wind)

c) 8...Nd5 9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.f4 f5 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.f5 Ne7 13.c3 a6 14.Bd3 d6
15.Qb3 “with ongoing pressure” (Wind)

F142 : 7. ..Nxe5?

8.0-0

F143 : 7. ..a6

8.Ba4

F144 : 7. ..Qe6!

8.0-0 Nd5 9.Nxd5 (9.f4 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Ne7 Albarran) Qxd5 10.c4 Qe6 11.d5 Qb6
12.e6 fxe6 13.dxe6 c6 Gargantua-gambitlover, The Chess Knights,2005,0-
1(13)

F15 : 7. Be2 !
7. .. Nxe5 8.dxe5 Qxe5 9.0-0 Bb4 10.Re1 Bxc3 11.bxc3 0-0 12.Bf3! Qf5! 13.c4
d6 and now 14.Rb1 or 14.Bb2 are both interesting (analyze Wind-Bücker).
7. .. Ng8!? 8.h4! Qd8 (8. .. Nxh4?! 9.Nd5! =) 9.h5 N6e7 10.d5 d6 11.exd6
cxd6 12.0-0 Nf6 13.Re1 Wind,M-Van Wezel,G,HGT2,2004,1-0(27)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 41
F2 : 6. .. Bb4
7.exf6 Qxf6

Eric Schiller : “Black is clearly better, with a significant lead in

development and pressure in the center”, and, “Black has such a comfortable
game that there is no reason to avoid this position”.

However, in a game M.Wind-E.Karstan there followed : 8.Be3 (many good

moves here : 8.Bc4, 8.Qe2+) 8. .. d5 9.g3 c6 10.Bg2 Bf5 11.Qd2 Qe6 12.h3 h5
13.a3 Bd6 14.0-0-0 0-0-0 15.Na4 with the better game for White. Nor had
White problems after 8.Be3 0-0 9.g3 d5 10.Bg2 c6 11.Qd2 in keiserpaul-
tirelli,GK,2003,1-0(27)

G. Deviations on the 7th move

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4

Rarely seen are 7. .. Be7 and 7. .. f6.

G1 : 7. .. Be7 ?!
8.Qf3 d5 9.Bxd5 f6 10.Bxb7 Bxb7 11.Qxb7 fxe5 12.Qc6+ Kf8 13.Nb5 White has
compensation by the better pawn structure and King’s safety.

G2 : 7. .. f6 ?!

After Black plays 7. . . . f6, the most logical continuation seems to be 8.0-0
followed by 9.f4. The Queen heads for h5 (Brause inconsistently played
8.Qh5 at an early stage).Keiser,P-Pletsch,C,Echternach Open Rapid,2005,1-
0(18)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 42
H. Deviations on the fifth move
Giving back the piece

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4

It often happens that players who are not familiar with the gambit are
afraid of the complications and return the piece as soon as possible.

H1 : 5 .. Bb4 ?
The Uhl-variation

White can simply take the knight and obtain the better game

6.dxe5

H11 : 6. .. Nxe4
both Qg4 and Qd4 are possible

7. Qg4 d5 ( Nxc3 8.Qxb4 ) lead to animated play in Keiser,P-

Kooyman,Handelscompetition, 2000, 1-0(15), White has not to be afraid of
the poissoned pawn 8.Qxg7 Rf8 9.a3 there can follow 9. .. Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qh4
11.Be3 (11.Bh6+- Collijn) and now Nxc3 is impossible because of 12.Bc5

7. Qd4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 d5 9.exd6 Keiser,P-Krukowski,M,Handelscompetition,2000,

1-0(20)

H12 : 6. .. Bxc3+
7.bxc3 Nxe4 8.Qg4 d5 9.Qxg7 Rf8 10.Bh6 Keiser,P - Vansichen,J,Interclubs,
2001,1-0(37)

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 43
H2 : 5. ..Nxe4
leads to equality. 6.Nxe4 Ng6 7.d5 Qe7 8.Qe2 d6 9.Bd2
Dimitrios Sakellarakis-Friedhelm Harms,TGT ICCF email,1998,1-0(20)

H3 : 5. ..Bd6
is another way to obtain full equality. After 6.dxe5 Bxe5 7.Bd3 the
position on the board is the same as in a well known line of the Italian
Four Knights with reversed colours after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6
4.Bc4?! Nxe4! 5. Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6

H4 : 5 ..Neg4 ?!
Black plans a counterattack via Nxf2 (named The JustInTime variation by S.
Jakob )
6.e5 Nxf2 7.Kxf2 d5 8.exf6 Qxf6+ 9.Qf3 Qxf3+ 10.Kxf3 c6 Black has used all
his developed pieces and could not continue his attack, Brause-roundball,
ICC,1998,1-0(26)

Another black idea is to win a pawn

6.e5 Qe7 7.Be2 Nxe5 8.dxe5 Qxe5 9.0-0 Bc5 10.g3 (10.Re1!?) but White is
well defended and can win the pawn back plus the better pawn structure with
Bf4 Brause-Skydiver,ICS,1997,1-0(12)

H5 : 5. ..Qe7 ?
6.dxe5 Qxe5 7.f4! Qa5 (7. .. Qe6 8.Qd4 d5 9.f5! was Keiser,P-
Blokhuis,F,HGT1,2003,1-0(15)) 8.Bd2 with the better game for White

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 44
Closely Related Openings
We still have to discuss three subjects : The Chicago gambit, the Halloween
reversed and the Delayed Halloween.

The Chicago Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 ?

The same idea, but the pawn is taken one move earlier. This cannot be
recommended. Contrary to the Halloween gambit, there is not the character-
istic Knight chase by pushing forwards the center pawns. Nevertheless,
Phillips,D-Pillsbury,H,Chicago,1899, was 1-0. This is the game :
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 Nxe5 4.d4 Nc6 5.d5 Nb8 6.Bd3 d6 7.0-0 Nd7 8.c4 Be7
9.Nc3 Ne5 10.Be2 f5 11.f4 Nf7 12.Bd3 fxe4 13.Nxe4 Bf5 14.Kh1 Bxe4 15.Bxe4
Nf6 16.Bf3 0-0 17.g4 Nd7 18.Be3 b6 19.Be4 Nc5 20.Bc2 a5 21.Rf3 Nh8 22.Rh3
g6 23.g5 Qd7 24.Rh4 Rf5 25.Qg4 Raf8 26.Qh3 Bd8 27.a3 R8f7 28.b4 Nb7 29.Bd2
Qe8 30.Re1 Re7 31.Rxe7 Qxe7 32.Bxf5 gxf5 33.Qxf5 Ng6 34.Rh6 Nf8 35.Qd3 Qf7
36.f5 Be7 37.g6 hxg6 38.fxg6 Qg7 39.Qf5 Nd8 40.Rh3 Bf6 41.Bh6 Qe7 42.Re3
Be5 43.Bg5 Qe8 44.Bxd8 Nxg6 45.Bxc7 1-0

The opening was also called “the Irish gambit”. Hugh Myers gives as
anecdote on this name in the “Myers Openings Bulletin” No. 4 of October
1993 that "The Irish Gambit" was the title of a comic story in a New York
magazine of 1887. A player named Dennis O'Flaherty played it in his first
game and he won. On his deathbed he was asked "to explain how he ever
conceived this brilliant sacrifice”. He replied, "Why you old fool, I did
not see that the Pawn was protected."

A third name of this opening is the “Te Kolste Gambit” refering to

following game in December 1913 :
Te Kolste,J - NN ,the Netherlands, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 Nxe5 4.d4 Ng6
5.Bc4 d6 6.0-0 Be7 7.f4 Bf6 8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Nxe5 [9...Be7 10.Bxf7++-]
10.dxe5 Qxd1 11.Rxd1 Bxe5 12.Re1 f6 13.Bf4 Bd7 [13...Ne7 14.Bxe5 fxe5
15.Rxe5±] 14.Bxe5 fxe5 15.Rxe5+ Kd8 16.Nc3 Nf6 17.Rd1 c6 18.Be6 Kc7 19.Bxd7
Nxd7 20.Re7 Rad8 21.Ne4! ( intending Nc5 or Ng5 followed by Ne6 or Nf7 )
21...b6 22.Ng5 1-0

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 45
The Halloween Gambit Reversed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 Nxe4!? 5.Nxe4 d5

The gambit can also be played with the Black pieces; where after 4. g3,
White does not have the option of playing his Queen-Knight to the King-
side.

We follow Ivanov,A-Husari,Boston rapid,2000 : 6.Nc3 d4 7.Nb1

[7.Bg2!? dxc3 8.bxc3 unclear, leaded to a draw in Campora,D-Flores,D,zt 2.5
Asuncion PAR(3),2003,½-½(53)
7.Ne4?! f5 8.Neg5 e4 9.Bc4 exf3 10.Nxf3 Qe7+ was also a draw in
Smirin,I-Macieja,B,TCh-CZE Extraliga 2003-4,2004,½-½(24)]
7...e4 8.Ng1 d3! 9.c3
[9.cxd3 exd3 (9...Bc5!? 10.dxe4 Qd4) 10.Qf3 Nd4 11.Qe3+ (11.Qe4+ Be7
12.Bxd3 Bf5 13.Qe3 Qd5 14.f3 0-0-0 equal, unclear) 12.Bxd3 Qd7 13.Nc3 0-0-0
14.Nge2 Bc5 15.Qf4 Rhe8 equal, unclear 16.0-0?! (16.Ne4 ) 16...g5! 17.Qf6
Bh3 18.Nxd4 (18.Bc4 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 g4-+) 18...Bxd4 19.Qh6 Bxf1
20.Bxf1 Qf5 21.Nd1 Re1 22.Ne3 Bxe3 23.dxe3 Rdd1-+] (Analysis
A.Torrecillas)]
9...Bc5 10.Qh5 Bb6 11.Qh4 Qxh4 12.gxh4 0-0 13.b3 Ne5 14.Na3 Re8 15.Nc4?
Nxc4 16.bxc4 Be6 17.Bg2 Bxc4 18.Nh3 c6 19.0-0 f5 20.a4 Re5 21.Ba3 Rd8
22.Rfb1 Rd7 23.Nf4 Bd8 with advantage for Black.

Nevertheless, the reversed form does not create as much attacking

possibilities as the normal one. The reason is that Black cannot restrain
White to castle. amigic-keiserpaul,GK,2003 went 6.Nc3 d4 7.Nb1 e4 8.Nh4 d3
9.cxd3 exd3 10.Qf3 Nb4 11.Na3 Bc5 12.Bg2 Qe7+ 13.Qe4 Qxe4+ 14.Bxe4 0-0
15.0-0 and White has no compensation, the pawn on d6 is weak and will be
picked soon.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 46
The Delayed Halloween Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3 g6 5.Nxe5!? Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 (diagram)

Now that g6 is occupied by a pawn, Black is forced to withdraw his Knight

to the Queen-side.

7.d5 [ 7.e5 Ng8 8.Bc4 d6 9.Qf3 Be6 was Hendriks,R-Jonkman,H, KPMG Weekender
Zwolle,2001,0-1(66)] 7. .. Nb8 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6 Qf6 11.Nb5 Na6
12.Bc4 resembles the Back-To-The-Roots variant on page 12.

Conclusions:
The White player has no reason to be afraid of the 5. .. Nc6 lines.
Some lines are drawish, but Black’s material superiority does not give him
better chances.

This is not true in the 5. .. Ng6 lines. Although most of these lines
give White long term compensation and strong pressure, and although there
is no real refutation by which White has lost all practical chances, there
are different variations in which he has to struggle for survival.

This means we can only recommend the Halloween against a non-prepared

opponent. But in that case, it becomes a real killer opening who will lead
you to many vigorous victories.

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 47
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Keiser, born near Antwerp

(Belgium) in 1946, married, 3
children, is a logistics
engineer at a telecommunicaton
company.

He is an average club player but

likes Unorthodox openings as the
Queens Knight and the Scandinavian
gambits.

SOURCES

R. Schlenker Randspringer #65 1993

R. Schlenker Handbuch der unregelmassigen Schacheroffnungen Bd.14/I 1997
E. Schiller Unorthodox Chess Openings 1998
S. Bücker Kaissiber nr 20 2005
H. Myers The Myers Openings Bulletin Nrs. 4, 6, 7
M. Wind The Halloween gambit ( analyses distributed to the
participants of the two Halloween Thematic Tournaments )

Web sources

http://www.jakob.at/steffen/hal_toc.html (Steffen A.Jakob’s chess page )

http://home.eplus-online.de/schach/Gambits.htm (moves tree)
http://www.asigc.it/teoria/Unorthodox_4.htm (game by Paul Valle)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/tour/breeze.htm (guide by Tim Krabbé)
http://www.terra.es/personal2/salclub/enroque12.zip (A.Torrecillas
article)
http://www.d-artagnan.webpark.pl/szachy/halloween.htm/ about the
correspondence tournament by M.Maciaga )

With special thanks to

Maurits Wind
Rick Kennedy
P.J. v.d. Houwen
Antonio Torrecillas
Glenn Giffen

If you have any comments or questions, please contact me at paul.keiser@scarlet.be

UON 13 Halloween Edition, 31 Oct 2005 Critical Lines in the Halloween Gambit 48