Damiano Defence

Damiano Defence
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
f6 black pawn
e5 black pawn
e4 white pawn
f3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Moves1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6
ECOC40
Named afterPedro Damiano
ParentKing's Knight Opening

The Damiano Defence is a chess opening beginning with the moves:

  1. e4 e5
  2. Nf3 f6?

The defence is one of the oldest chess openings, with games dating back to the 16th century. It is a weak opening that gives a large advantage for White after 3.Nxe5. Even if White does not go for this continuation, simple development leads to an advantage since 2...f6 prevents the g8-knight from developing to f6 and weakens Black's kingside.

The ECO code for the Damiano Defence is C40 (King's Knight Opening).

3.d4 and 3.Bc4

Black's 2...f6? is a weak move that exposes Black's king, weakens their kingside and prevents Black from developing their knight to f6. The moves 3.d4 and 3.Bc4 are strong replies; I.A. Horowitz wrote (substituting algebraic notation for his descriptive notation), "Simple and potent is 3.Bc4 d6 4.d4 Nc6 5.c3, after which Black chokes to death."[1]

3.Nxe5!

abcdefgh
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8f8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7e7f7g7 black pawnh77
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6 black kingh66
5a5b5c5d5 white bishope5 white queenf5g5h5 black pawn5
4a4b4c4d4e4 white pawnf4g4h4 white pawn4
3a3b3c3d3e3f3g3h33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2f2 white pawng2 white pawnh22
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1e1 white kingf1g1h1 white rook1
abcdefgh
Position after 8...h5

The most forceful move is the knight sacrifice 3.Nxe5![2] Taking the knight with 3...fxe5? exposes Black to a deadly attack after 4.Qh5+ Ke7 (4...g6 loses to 5.Qxe5+, forking king and rook, leaving Black down the exchange, though other options are worse) 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ d5! (6...Kg6?? 7.Qf5+ is devastating and leads to mate shortly after) 7.Bxd5+ Kg6 8.h4 (8.d4? Bd6!) 8...h5 (see diagram; 8...h6 is similar, except Black cannot play 9...Bxb7 because of 10.Qf5#) 9.Bxb7! Bd6 (9...Bxb7 10.Qf5+ Kh6 11.d4+ g5 12.Qf7! mates quickly) 10.Qa5!, when Black's best is 10...Nc6 11.Bxc6 Rb8, and now White can play 12.Qxa7 with five extra pawns. Bruce Pandolfini notes that Black's opening is thus sometimes described as "the five pawns gambit".[3] Alternatively, White can continue developing their pieces, remaining four pawns up. In either case, White has a clearly winning position.

Since taking the knight is fatal, after 3.Nxe5 Black should instead play 3...Qe7![4] (Other Black third moves, such as 3...d5, lead to 4. Qh5+! g6 5. Nxg6!) After 4.Nf3 (4.Qh5+? g6 5.Nxg6 Qxe4+ 6.Be2 Qxg6 leaves Black ahead a piece for a pawn)[4] 4...Qxe4+ 5.Be2, Black has regained the pawn but has lost time and weakened their kingside, and will lose more time when White chases the queen with Nc3, or 0-0, Re1, and a move by the bishop on e2. Nick de Firmian in Modern Chess Openings analyses instead 4...d5 5.d3 dxe4 6.dxe4, when White had a small advantage in Emmanuel Schiffers–Mikhail Chigorin, St. Petersburg 1897.[5]

The fact that Black can only regain the pawn with 3...Qe7! shows that 2...f6? did not really defend the e-pawn at all. Indeed, even a relatively useless move like 2...a6?! is less risky than 2...f6? After 2...a6?! 3.Nxe5, Black could still regain the pawn with 3...Qe7 4.d4 d6, but has not weakened the kingside or prevented the king's knight from developing to f6.

History

Schiffers vs. Chigorin, 1897
abcdefgh
8a8 black rookb8c8d8e8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black bishope7f7g7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6b6c6 black knightd6e6f6 black pawng6 black queenh66
5a5b5c5d5e5 white knightf5g5h55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h44
3a3b3c3 white knightd3e3f3g3h33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2e2 white bishopf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1c1 white bishopd1 white queene1f1 white rookg1 white kingh11
abcdefgh
Position after 10.Ne5!, White wins Black's queen. If the knight is captured, 11.Bh5 pins the queen to the king, while 10...Qf5 leads to 11.Bg4 and the queen is trapped (11...Qxe5 12.Qxd7#).

The opening is named after the Portuguese chess author Pedro Damiano (1480–1544), despite the fact that he condemned it as weak and the book may actually be Francesc Vicent’s writing that he signed. In 1847, Howard Staunton wrote of 2...f6, "This move occurs in the old work of Damiano, who gives some ingenious variations on it. Lopez, and later authors, have hence entitled it 'Damiano's Gambit'."[6] Instead, Staunton's contemporary George Walker more logically reserved the term "Damiano Gambit" for the knight sacrifice played by White on the third move: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5.[7] Staunton referred to [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3] 2...Nc6, a highly respected move then and now, as "Damiano's defence to the K. Kt.'s opening".[8]

The Damiano Defence is never seen today in top-level play. The greatest player to play the Damiano in serious master competition was Chigorin. As noted above, he played the 3...Qe7 line in a game against Schiffers at St. Petersburg 1897. Chigorin lost his queen on move 10 (see diagram), but Schiffers played so weakly that Chigorin later missed a brilliant forced mate and only escaped when Schiffers agreed to a draw in a winning position.[9] Robert McGregor played the Damiano in a 1964 simultaneous exhibition against Bobby Fischer, essaying 3...Qe7 4.Nf3 d5 5.d3 dxe4 6.dxe4 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Bf5, and drew, although Fischer did not play the best moves.[10]

References

  1. ^ I.A. Horowitz, Chess Openings: Theory and Practice, Simon and Schuster, 1964, p. 227 n. 31.
  2. ^ Understanding the Chess Openings, Sam Collins, 2005, p. 28.
  3. ^ Bruce Pandolfini, Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, Simon & Schuster, 1989, p. 92. ISBN 0-671-65690-2.
  4. ^ a b Pandolfini 1989, p. 91.
  5. ^ Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition, Random House Puzzles & Games, 2008, p. 156. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.
  6. ^ Howard Staunton, The Chess-Player's Handbook, Henry C. Bohn, 1847, p. 60.
  7. ^ Walker wrote of the knight sacrifice, "This constitutes the Damiano Gambit." George Walker, The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess (4th ed. 1846), Sherwood, Gilbert, & Piper, p. 236.
  8. ^ Staunton, p. 64.
  9. ^ "The Richter riddle". Open Chess Diary (scroll down to No. 222). Retrieved 2006-03-20.
  10. ^ Bobby Fischer and Damiano's Defense. Chessstuff.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2009-04-02.
The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Damiano Defence
  • "Defeating Damiano's Defense". The Kenilworthian. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2012-07-20. A comprehensive list of material available online about Damiano's Defence.
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