It takes two to "Tango"

My opponent in the following game found a new way to lose a pawn as White against the Black Knights' Tango (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?). He began with 3.d5!?, which IM Richard Palliser calls "The Lunge" in his book on the opening, tango! At first blush, the move looks strong. White hopes to chase Black's knights with his pawns and force them back in disarray, à la Borochow-Fine, Kujoth-Fashingbauer, Marshall-Rogosin, and various games in the Halloween Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5?! Nxe5 5.d4). Something like that did happen in Tate-Orlov, 1995. But if Black plays correctly, White gets little or no advantage with 3.d5. 3.Nf3 and 3.Nc3 are much more commonly seen, and more successful in practice.

White's 4.Qc2 was not in the spirit of The Lunge. White should continue his aggression with 4.e4 (when 4...Nxe4?? 5.Qd4 wins for White) or even Tate's 4.f4!?, offering the c-pawn as a gambit (4...Nxc4 5.e4). White's 7.a3? was an unfortunate theoretical novelty. Another passive, time-wasting move, it dropped a pawn to the simple tactic 7...Bxd2+ 8.Nxd2 exd5 9.cxd5 Nxd5! The lost pawn should have been the extent of the damage. Surely no one would be so naïve as to take the knight, which would give me the choice of two mates in two, or a mate in four? To my astonishment, my opponent fell into it hook, line, and sinker. I'm now 110-0-0 on GameKnot, with an Orwellian 1984 rating.

Kayser Roll

The Black Knights' Tango (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?) is an offbeat but playable opening that many opponents aren't prepared for. GM Joel Benjamin wrote of it (in 2004, admittedly) "Opponents under 2200 tend to be a bit confused. They aren't programmed to meet this move; they can't pull something out of their repertoire." Best for White may be the restrained 3.Nf3 e6 (avoiding 4.Nc3 e5!) and now either 4.Nc3 Bb4 (transposing to a line of the Nimzo-Indian) or the prophylactic 4.a3, as Kasparov has played. My opponent in the game below played 3.d5, which IM Richard Palliser calls "The Lunge." White is probably thinking, "Let's blow this ridiculous opening off the board!," but it's not so easy. After 3...Ne5, he should have continued with the consistent 4.e4 e6 (4...Nxe4?? 5.Qd4) 5.f4 (or, more sedately, 5.Nf3, as Gligoric once played). Instead, he played the flaccid 4.b3?! e6 5.Bb2. After 5...Bb4+, he should have played 6.Bc3!, keeping a playable game. His 6.Nd2?? got crushed by 6...Ne4! 7.Bc1 Qf6! 8.Nf3 and now, while I was contemplating my next move, White resigned. I probably would have played 8...Ng4 followed by crashing in on f2, rather than 8...Nxf3+ 9.gxf3 (9.exf3? Nc3! 10.Qc2 Qe5+ is crushing) Qxa1 (9...Nxf2!?) 10.fxe4, when White could pretend that his "big center" gives him compensation.

Believe it or not, through 7...Qf6, I was following a game between two strong grandmasters! In Marshall-Torre, 1925, the U.S. champion resigned after 7...Qf6. This was an offhand game that they played on board the S.S. Antonia while en route to the Baden-Baden 1925 tournament. Maybe Marshall was seasick. Kayser was not the first player who has fallen into this trap in an Internet blitz game against me. In a 2011 game I played on FICS, rather than play the abject 7.Bc1, White gave up his queen with 7.Bxe5 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Nxd2 9.Kxd2 d6 10.Bb2 (10.Bxg7? Qg5+) exd5 11.cxd5 Qg5+ 12.e3 Qxd5+ and I won.

If you want to learn to Tango, check out Benjamin's articles here and here.

A trap in the Black Knights' Tango

The Black Knights' Tango (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?) is an offbeat but sound defense that has been favored by such players as Joel Benjamin and Alex Yermolinsky. Black immediately takes a lead in development, and will strike back in the center with ...e5 or ...d5. The opening has successfully weathered aggressive attempts at refutation like the Lunge Variation 3.d5 Ne5 4.e4 e6 (4...Nxe4?? 5.Qd4!) 5.f4 Ng6 6.e5 Ne4.

White players often are unfamiliar with the Tango, and commonly fall into the trap below. I have played the opening many times on FICS, and find that about 10% of my opponents have fallen into it. After 3.Nc3 (3.Nf3, the most common move, avoids Black's counter-thrust 3...e5) e5! 4.d5 Ne7 5.e4 Ng6 6.Bd3 Bc5 (see diagram), the blunder 7.Nge2?? is one of White's most popular moves! The database www.365chess.com contains 12 games with 7.Nf3, 11 with 7.a3, and 10 with 7.Nge2?? After 7.Nge2?? Ng4!, striking at the f2 square, White is already lost. For example, (a) 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 and now either (1) 9...Nxe3 10.Qd2 Nh4 (or 10...Nxg2+), or (2) 9...Qf6; (b) 8.b4?! Nxf2 9.Qb3?? Nxd3+ 0-1 Collier-Yermolinsky, New York Open 1993; (c) 8.Rf1 (sad, but maybe the best practical try) Nxh2! (better than 8...Qh4 9.Ng3! Nxh2? 10.Rh1! with a weird position where Black's knight is marooned on h2) 9.Rh1 Ng4 10.Rf1 Qh4. White often makes a terrible position even worse with (d) 8.0-0? Qh4!, striking both h2 and f2, as in Kosov-Chiarotto below and many other games. Black wins an exchange and a pawn after the forced 9.h3 Nxf2 10.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 11.Kh1 (not 11.Kh2?? Nh4! winning the house, Seifert (2099)-Llobel Cortel (2198), Litohoto 1999, since White cannot play 12.Qg1 Nf3+). White gave up after a few more moves.

Just another silly Internet game

As usual, the hapless NN proves unable to cope with the Black Knights' Tango. A double rook sacrifice ends the game. In the final position, I was expecting White to try 18.Nf4 exf4 19.Rae1+, when 19...Be3! ends matters. Instead, he resigned.

Silly Internet game du jour

The Black Knights' Tango (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?) allows Black to get a big attack effortlessly if White plays passively. A case in point: