Oh, Vienna

There are plenty of places I've been to, without really having been 'in'. Places like Singapore, Kuala Lumper, and Dubai have so far simply been airport transit lounges, while my French experiences have either been missing flight in Paris, or spent inside a train heading to Brussels.
One place I've been to twice, without ever having been in, is Vienna, or more correctly, its international airport. Nonetheless I did actually spend 5 minutes or so in Austria, having passed through passport control to make a connecting flight to Slovenia. It wasn't particularly memorable.
And this leads me to more Viennese forgetfulness. When I started playing weekend chess as a teenager, the Vienna Opening was one of my usual weapons. I proffered the 3.Bc4 line, especially the Frankenstein-Dracula. When I played White it was in the hope of grabbing the rook on a8 and hanging on, and when I was Black (which happened more often in later years) I hoped that my opponent would grab the rook on a8, and not hang on.
As for the Gambit lines, I studied those as well, but never really got to face them much as Black. So when I played a (very) recent game in this line I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten what I knew. I wasn't even sure that move 5 was correct, but in the end it turned out well for me, with the game ending in a flurry of tactics.




Robertson,Keith - Press,Shaun [C29]
ANU Winter Swiss, 19.08.2009
[Press,Shaun]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.d3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be2 Nc6 [RR 8...Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qe1 Nc6 11.Qg3 Bh5 12.Bf4 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qa4 14.Bd1 Rae8 15.c4 dxc4 16.c3 Qa6 17.dxc4 Qxc4 18.Bb3 Qg4 19.Qf2 Bd8 20.Be3 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Rxe5 22.Rae1 Bb6 23.c4 Rodriguez Fonseca,J (2057)-Olafsson,T (2150)/Reykjavik ISL 2007/The Week in Chess 685/0-1 (31)] 9.Bf4 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Bg3N [RR 11.d4 Qa5 12.Bd2 Qa4 13.Be3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Rac8 15.Qd2 Na5 16.Bd3 Bxf3 17.Rxf3 Bb4 18.Qf2 Nc4 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qh4+ 1-0 Buchanan,R-Maguire,J/Colorado 1980] 11...f6 12.d4 Qa5 13.Qd2 cxd4 14.Rad1 dxc3 [14...fxe5 15.Nxe5 dxc3 16.Rxf8+ Rxf8 17.Qe1 Nxe5 18.Bxg4 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Nxg4 20.Qxe7 Qf6-+] 15.Qxd5+ Qxd5 16.Rxd5 Nb4 [16...fxe5 17.Bxe5 Be6 18.Rb5 a6 19.Rxb7 Bc5+ 20.Kh1 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Rxf1+ 22.Bxf1 Bxa2-+] 17.Rb5 Nxc2 18.Bc4+ Kh8 19.Rxb7 Bc5+ 20.Bf2 Ne3 21.exf6 Rxf6 (D)
22.Ne5 Rxf2 23.Nf7+ Rxf7 24.Bxf7 Nxf1+ 25.Kxf1 c2 0-1