Monday, February 26, 2007

Frankenstein and Dracula Meet the Werewolf


I thought I knew all about the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation of the Vienna (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5). Then the other night at the club, a mysterious stranger introduced me to the Werewolf with 4...Ng5!?!? and it really freaked me out. I had never seen that before. In fact, I had never even imagined that there might be another move for Black besides 4...Nd6.

As far as I know, that move is not in any book. As you might expect, it probably is not very good on close inspection. But proving that upon first encounter is another story--especially late at night at ICC, with a full moon overhead. I have been enjoying playing the Werewolf quite a bit these past few days. And I'm just itching to play it again.

For those interested in learning more about the mainline Frankenstein-Dracula, I suggest the articles by Tim Harding at ChessCafe:

You might also enjoy Vienna Backwaters by IM Andrew Martin, which offers an introduction to Santasiere's forgotten surprise gambit alternative to the Frankenstein-Dracula that may be even scarier: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.d4!?

Labels:

2 Comments:

Blogger Chess Coroner said...

White can also play 7.Nge2 d6 (Not 7...Nxc2+?? 8.Kd1 Nxa1 9.d6 Qf6 10.Ne4 +- nor 7...Nxe2?? 8.d6!! Qf6 9.Ne4 +-) 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.0–0! Be7! (9...dxc3?? 10.Bg5 +-) 10.Nb5 0–0 11.Nxd4 Bf6 12.Be3 Re8 13.c3 +=

Wed Feb 28, 02:11:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the line given in your article, can black continue 11...Nh4?

Thu Apr 26, 04:10:00 PM EDT  

Post a Comment

<< Home