The one game that made the session worthwhile was the following one. Fritz’ Tactical Analysis lists the opening as the Scandinavian Defense, but the line was one I play quite often in these games and I like to call it the Danish Gambit Reversed.
The Danish Gambit is an aggressive, tactical opening for white that begins 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3. White sacrifices a Pawn or two for rapid development, especially his Bishops, in the hopes of a strong early attach.
It was surprising to see that my opening book shows that after 3...dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 white wins 38% and black 37%.
These stats are probably skewed because a lot of the games were likely played way back in the Romantic period when defensive technique was as refined as it is today. Also, I suspect a lot of the games were played by non-Masters.
My “Danish Gambit Reversed” is much less effective: White scores +6 -1 =4 in my database.. It is obviously unsound, but but it’s still fun to play, especially in Blitz games.Here is the "Blunder Category" chart from Fritz 19's analysis:
[Event "Online G10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2026.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Guest"]
[Black "Tartajubow"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2026.??.??"]
{B01: Scandinavian Defense} 1. e4 d5 {Historically this was known as the
Center Counter Defense. I am not sure when the name changed.} 2. exd5 c6 {
A favorite Blitz weapon.} 3. dxc6 e5 {The sane move is 3...Nxc6} 4. Qe2 {
Not very good because it hinders his development.} (4. cxb7 Bxb7 5. d4 exd4 6.
c3 Bc5 7. Nf3 Qe7+ 8. Qe2 dxc3 9. Nxc3 Nc6 {White is better. Gallinnis,
N-Trzaska,P Bundesliga 8788 Germany 1987}) (4. Nc3 Bc5 5. Nf3 Nxc6 6. Bb5 Bg4
7. Qe2 Nge7 8. Qxe5 Qb6 9. d4 {White is better, but 9.Nd5! was much stringer.
Nejanky,M-Lujan,M Wch U14 Girls Oropesa del Mar 1999}) (4. Bb5 {I see this
move a lot.} Nxc6 {White should now probably jus continue his development with
5.Nc3, but he often plays} 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 {but white's advantage is minimal.})
4... Nxc6 5. c3 {White plays the opening very passively...nit a good idea.} (5.
Nf3 Be6 {Baits a trap. White should play 6.d3 and avoid} 6. Nxe5 Nd4 7. Qd3 {
Awkward, bit best.} (7. Qd1 Qc7 {wins material.}) 7... Rc8 {and black has
equalized after, 8.c3, but white must not play the seemingly plausible} 8. Nc3
Bf5 9. Qg3 f6 {and black is bery mear to winning.}) 5... Bd6 {[%mdl 1024]} 6.
d3 Nf6 7. h3 {One passive move too many. Black now has the advantahe in the
form of a stong initiative. Better was either 7.Nd2 or 7.Nf3} Bf5 8. Bg5 O-O {
I wanted to get castled and put a R n e8 thinking that there might be some
potential for.e4} 9. Nd2 Re8 10. Ne4 {Probably it's best to retreat 10...Be7
to reinforce f6.} Bg6 {White's position is passive, but solid and black has no
immediate threats so white should now continue with 11.Bxf6 afyer which he
would have a slight advantage. Instead he makes another passive move that
weakens his position.} 11. f3 {Now engines suggest 11...Be7 with a -/+
advantage for black/} (11. Bxf6 {keeps the upper hand.} gxf6 12. g4 Nd4 {
It's not likely I would have seen this!} 13. Qd2 (13. cxd4 {is very bad.} Bxe4
14. dxe4 Bb4+ 15. Kd1 Qxd4+ 16. Kc1 Rac8+ 17. Kb1 Ba3 18. bxa3 (18. b3 Rc1#)
18... Qc3 19. Qd1 Re6 20. Bb5 Rd6 21. Bd3 Rxd3 22. Ne2 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qc2# {
What an attack!}) 13... Ne6 14. Ne2 $14) 11... Nxe4 {Played on a whim. The
evaluation is now "=".} {Played instantly; I am sure white thought my move was
a gross blunder, but in any case capturing the Q was the only good move.} 12.
Bxd8 Ng3 13. Qe3 {Another instant move. Saving the Q is certainly plausible,
but withdrawing the B to h4 would have keep the chances equal.} Raxd8 {Taking
the R would have allowed him to save the B. Black only has a B and N for the Q,
but his piece activity is practically winning.} (13... Nxh1 14. Bh4 {Saves the
B and the N on h1 will be lost.}) 14. O-O-O {This is probaly better than
trying to save the exchange!} (14. Rh2 e4 15. dxe4 Nxe4 16. fxe4 Rxe4 17. Qxe4
Bxe4 18. Rh1 Bg3+ {White is the exchange up, but black has more than enough
compensation.}) 14... Nxh1 15. Ne2 e4 {This rates a ">" as now the chances are
back to equal.} (15... Be7 {According to Stockfish this wins, but how?! Watch..
.} 16. g3 Bg5 17. Qxg5 Nf2 18. Rd2 Nxd3+ 19. Kc2 e4 20. fxe4 h6 21. Qb5 Rxe4 {
White has a Q vs, R+B, but black's pieces are swarming all ove white's K.}) 16.
fxe4 {He should have taken with the other P and hoped to ease his defense by
trading Rs on the open file. Now white is weak on the dark squares.} f5 {
Played without thought; it allows white to equalize, but only if he finds the
refutation which he did not.} 17. Qg1 {This way too passive move loses.} (17.
Nf4 Bf7 18. Be2 {Things are really messy, Materially white has a Q+2Ps vs.
R+N+B which is about equal. Here black must continue aggressively with} g5 19.
Nh5 Bxh5 20. Qxg5+ Bg6 21. Rxh1 {and anything can happen!}) 17... Ng3 18. Nxg3
Bxg3 19. Qe3 Bc7 20. Qc5 {This is a serious error that allows black to rip
open the center. After 20.e5 the win would have been up for grabs.} fxe4 21.
dxe4 {This only makes matters worse because it further opens up the center.
After 21.d4 black's advantage is not nearly as great as it is after the text.}
(21. d4 Bf4+ 22. Kb1 e3+ 23. Ka1 {and black has a winning advantage, but the
point is still a long way off and blacl cannot be expected to play like
Stockfish.}) 21... Bf4+ {Patzer sees a check, Patzer gives a check. Never miss
a check, it might be a mate. As luck would have it thought this is the best
move.} 22. Kc2 Bxe4+ {This pair of Bs and the two Rs are muderous.} 23. Bd3
Rxd3 {This move, threatening a discovered check, is far better that giving a
check with the B.} (23... Bxd3+ 24. Rxd3 Rxd3 25. Kxd3 {and the chances are
equal.}) 24. Rxd3 Ne5 {[%mdl 64] White resigned. He is lost, but resignation
is a but premature because the win could prove to be tricky and black would
have to be careful not to blunder away a piece to the Q.} (24... Bxd3+ 25. Kxd3
Be5 26. Qc4+ Kf8 {Black is better according to Stockfish, but the result would
be in doubt/}) (24... Ne5 25. Qxa7 Bxd3+ 26. Kd1 Bg6 27. Qd4 Nd3 28. Kc2 Ne1+
29. Kb3 Bc2+ 30. Kc4 Re4) 0-1
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