Bs"d

The four horses game is supposed to be and outdated old fashioned tame boring opening, only good for old geezers, right?

But sometimes, like in this game: https://lichess.org/hjClMtiZLRN7 crazy things can happen.
I played a weird gambit, I'm not totally sure, but I think it is at least partially made up by me, and lo and behold: on move 10 the enemy lost his queen, for only a horse. Bad deal.

This didn't stop him to play on to move 39 before surrendering, but he never got the slightest chance.

Because I like playing the Russian defense, because it can lead to the Stafford gambit, I get the four horses a lot on the board. Not by choice, but because the enemy is afraid to accept the gambit, and goes for the four horses.
So I made sure I got some practical knowledge about how to play that.

Seems to pay off sometimes.

https://tinyurl.com/bloodyhorse

On Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 12:08:08 PM UTC-4, Eli Kesef wrote:
> Bs"d
>
> The four horses game is supposed to be and outdated old fashioned tame boring opening, only good for old geezers, right?

No, it's quite complicated with many trappy lines.
>
> But sometimes, like in this game: https://lichess.org/hjClMtiZLRN7 crazy things can happen.

Spare us, that was not remotely interesting.

William Hyde

On Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 11:28:04 PM UTC+3, William Hyde wrote:
> On Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 12:08:08 PM UTC-4, Eli Kesef wrote:
> > Bs"d
> >
> > The four horses game is supposed to be and outdated old fashioned tame boring opening, only good for old geezers, right?
> No, it's quite complicated with many trappy lines.
> >
> > But sometimes, like in this game: https://lichess.org/hjClMtiZLRN7 crazy things can happen.
> Spare us, that was not remotely interesting.

Bs"d

OK, the enemy blundered away his queen, but anyway, I did have a nice horse fork. I was considering posting this under the horse fork thread.

But I sure liked the game. And that's what it's all about.

https://tinyurl.com/chess-complex

On Thursday, February 3, 2022 at 11:57:26 PM UTC+2, Eli Kesef wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 9:46:49 PM UTC+3, Eli Kesef wrote:
> > On Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 12:39:16 PM UTC+3, Eli Kesef wrote:
> > > Bs"d
> > >
> > > This freshly played game https://lichess.org/ME1RmhJ34gqi ended on move 14. I guess that counts as a miniature. It is a beautiful heart warming but unfortunately seldom occurring variation of the four horses game. The opponent resigned on move 14 because I had two queens, and he was about to lose his only queen, which would give me a 20 point advantage. I guess he didn't feel like playing on without a queen while I had two of 'm.
> > > What happened to fighting spirit?
> > >
> > > https://tinyurl.com/tramp-checkers
> >
> > Bs"d
> >
> > And I got another one, almost exactly a year later, another four horses, in which I get an extra queen on move 14, and the enemy is going to lose his queen on move 15, and his king is out in the open, running towards the middle of the board, and somehow that is enough for the enemy to surrender:
> > https://lichess.org/GzGmDOKYDFUx
> >
> > Sometimes the four horses game is not boring at all!
> >
> > https://tinyurl.com/4-horses-opening
> Bs"d
>
> And yet another one!
>
> A four horses game where the enemy loses his queen, and I get an extra one. So the material difference is 20 points, and the enemy surrenders on move 15: https://lichess.org/mqEJPmUsiHBm
>
> https://tinyurl.com/4knights-carry-on

Bs"d

And here is the fourth one! A four horses game where I get an extra queen, and the enemy is going to lose his one and only queen, so that it will be me with two queens against him with no queen.
Or, I'll be 20 points ahead in material.

That is, on move 14: https://lichess.org/eCBzDTFuG7uc

Isn't this hilarious?!

Everybody should study this variant carefully, learn it by heart, and experience for himself how much fun it is to get an extra queen while at the same time removing the enemy queen from the board. It's a thigh slapper! https://tinyurl.com/ROFL-smiley

And it doesn't just happen once, it happened to me again and again and again. As you can see.

Go for it!

https://tinyurl.com/4-horses-opening