In round 2, the e2e4.org.uk second team faced Ashfield-Breadsall and scored another decisive win, this time by 5.5 to 0.5. This was not entirely unexpected, as we heavily outgraded out opponents. I was up against Neil Graham and won in 22 moves after he ended up in a poor position out of the opening.
I had been expecting my opponent to play the Fajarowicz Variation based on his previous games, but he switched to the main line of the Budapest Gambit instead. My opponent in turn had expected me to meet the Budapest with 4 Bf4 and had prepared 4…g5!? However, although 4 Bf4 has tended to be my preferred move against the Budapest, I suspected he would play 4…g5 rather than the more common 4…Nc6, and not having looked at 4…g5 for a while, I decided to play the safer 4 Nf3. This worked out well, as my opponent – by his own admission – was not that familiar with the line and didn’t find the most challenging way to play. White ended up with a definite advantage out of the opening, although it was a surprise how quickly his position then crumbled. Possibly castling long was the decisive mistake.
I give the game below with some notes.