Ideas Behind the Scotch Blumenfeld Attack

I've created a slideshow of the Blumenfeld Attack, in order to teach students how it arises ... I'm going to post my findings here ... It all starts with the scotch - mainline:  

Interesting?

Here are some interesting facts about this highly tactical opening:  

1)   The Scotch: Blumenfeld attack is extremely rare and occurs in less than 1 in 10,000 games.

2)  From the data, you can expect that White will have a high 71.43% chance of winning, while Black should only have a 28.57% chance of winning. Because of the fact that most players probably have never seen this opening, and that Black has such a low expected chance of winning, it may be well worth it to keep this variation in your back pocket. Since as White, you should have a significant edge and will probably catch your opponent off guard.

The Scotch: Blumenfeld attack: How Often Does It Occur, How Popular Is It, and What Are Your Chances Winning Using It? (simplifychess.com)

Here is the initial move of the Blumenfeld Attack:

6.  Nb5!!

Here's an interesting trap if Black tries to grab the pawn on b2

In my opinion, the correct move to play here is 9.Kd2!  This should mean that you will win Black's Knight for the cost of the c-pawn. I've played this move myself in several online blitz games with some success.

Of course, White is hoping that Black will take the Knight with his King.  This would lead to the shocking 11. Nd5!!  winning Blacks Queen for the Knight ... !

Here is a novel idea that I found in the Blumenfeld Attack, but I doubt that it is very unsound?   Its a move that I thought of playing in a Standard-Play club game and it really tempted my opponent into playing Qxe4 ...?   Presumably they wanted activity, so happily traded their Rook for my Knight ... ?  

As it turned out, the trade didn't pay off and they (Black) eventually lost the game (see previous Blog post). 

Anyway, we have the following man to thank for his ideas regarding this particular attack: 

Why not give his idea a try?  

Scotch Blumenfeld Attack 'Bamboozles' My Opponent

This game started out as a routine, Classical Scotch Game, but then on move 6, I decided to unleash the unpredictable (and no doubt unsound) 'Blumenfeld Attack'. This variation got very interesting when my opponent took a gamble and decided to give his Rook away early on a8. I used the word 'bamboozle' in this post's title, because on move 8. Kd2?! my opponent took over 30 mins to cook up his next sequence of moves !!! Unfortunately I was unable to write all the moves down om my score sheet, as the rules state that in the final 5 minutes of the game the player is not obliged to do so, but luckily I remembered the final few moves in the time scramble ... !!! The outcome was that my opponent got his queen pinned to their King, by my Rook. Finally, he tried to move this piece (illegally) to check me in a bit of a rush, but I had to remind him that his piece was actually pinned and then he realised that he'd incurred a two minute penalty ... He resigned with this in mind.    

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Scotch Game

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