Howard Stern Playing the BG Declined

Q: What have Will Smith, Howard Stern, me and you got in common?

A: They all play chess!

In this blog I'm going to post one of "Shock-Jock" Stern's shorter games! He's quite a good player and has an ELO rating of 1600 - you can often catch him on the ICC. He's a great fan of gambits and especially the Budapest Gambit - one of my personal favourites).

This is a BG declined with 3.d5. We've mainly looked at 3.Bg5, so far, but I'll be blogging more on the 3.d5 move next and this seems a nice way to introduce it.

Stern - Unknown
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.d5
Incorrectly White chooses to decline the Gambit. White gets his best game if he accepts with 3.dxe5.

3...Bc5
The strongest position for the Black bishop putting pressure on the f2 square.

4.h3?!
A terrible choice by White. Yes, this avoids 4...Ng4 there are other ways to attack the f2 square. 4.e3 or 4.Nc3 are stronger. Allowing Stern to go straight for the kill.

4...Bxf2+!


5.Kxf2
Best move, as 5.Kd2 leads to 5...Ne4+ and 6...Ng3 where either the Rook falls.

5...Nxe4+
In either case this is the best move.

6.Kf3
In a losing position White throws himself on the sword.

6... Qh4 7.g4 f5
Fritz says this in Stern's only move to keep the attack flowing, but it makes sense and not hard to find.


8.gxf5 Rf8 9.Ke3
White makes another positional mistake. 9.Nc3 would extend the agony!

9...Rxf5
Moving pieces in to the attack.

10.Nf3 Qf4+
Now comes the end.

11.Kd3 Nf2+ 0-1
White resigns. 12.Kc2 Qe4+ and the Queen falls.


I hope you enjoyed this game from a surprising player.