Generally, I tend to classify mini’s as the opponent being weaker than me, but in this case, I think I played against someone used to whipping out the Albin Counter Gambit on a regular basis.
I find it a bit humorous that I didn’t have an opportunity to move half my pieces… all on the king’s side.
Just wanted to mention, the reason I pushed 5. f7 was to displace the king. I found out in the past taking the g7 pawn, which is something I’ve comes across in another opening also, is really just letting the opponent open up fast lines of attack.
I was under the impression that the opponent sacrificed his knight to open a line of attack, rather than a blunder.
Black gets zippo for the pawn, and only a modest amount of compensation for two pawns after 4…Bf5 5 fxg7. Two Bishops raking the King side has at least some value when White plays the Danish. Two Bishops raking the Queen side down a tempo doesn’t seem to accomplish much for Black.
I never really studied the Albin, but every time I come across it, the games can vary a LOT. First time I’ve actually come across someone that did that.
I did learn that Nc3 is paramount, although playing that early doesn’t seem to a main line. Frequently in my games, I do get Nf3 within a few moves after that, transposing the Albin into something looking mainstream. It was interesting that my opponent didn’t give me a chance to move any of my king side pieces.
In the main line, (3…d4), Nc3 is most definitely not on (in fact, you almost never get a chance to clear c3 for the Knight early on). The tricky part is that 3…d4 4 e3?! (in the analogous Falkbeer Counter Gambit, 4 d3 is the main line) runs into 4…Bb4+ 5 Bd2 dxe3! when 6 Bxb4?? loses the Queen after 6…exf2+.
Obviously black can prevent Nc3 if he chooses, but it doesn’t seem common for black to prevent that when I do come across the Albin counter gambit. More often than not, I get a chance to push pawn to a3. I don’t know if I’m playing people that actually study the Albin as a main line, or just play the Albin hoping white falls into a forest of potential traps. Although arguably most openings have a ton of traps to set, but a lot of people playing white don’t really study the Albin, so if they like to play the Queens Gambit, the Albin can come across as something they see infrequently at best.
Since I’ve gotten better as a player over the last 18 months or so, I’m starting to find the Albin played more often. I’m presuming that my opponents just have a larger breadth of opening knowledge. -But still think that most whip out the Albin because they think it’s an easy win.
It’s interesting that you see Albin Counters, but you seldom see the main variation, 3 … d4. I am going to resist the temptation to say, “3 … f6? BFD.” If people used to beat you with this, and now you start winning, you’ve crossed some important boundary, wherever that boundary may happen to be.
