To get from a bad opening to a playable middlegame may require some backtracking.
Leroy Dubeck White
Raymond Weinstein Black
New Jersey 1958
Sicilian Defense, Morra Gambit B27
1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 ♘xc3 ♘c6 5 ♘f3 g6 6 ♗c4 ♘a5? 7 ♕d4!
Black now sees 7...♘f6 8 e5. But 8...♘h5 9 e6 f6 and ...♘c6 looks worse than it is.
7...f6?! 8 0-0 ♘h6
White allowed 8...♘xc4 9 ♕xc4 because he would threaten 10 ♘b5 or 10 ♘d5 followed by ♘c7+.
9 e5! ♘f5?
Black would have to admit his sixth and seventh moves were bad if he continued 9...♘c6! 10 ♕f4 f5. But then he would get to play a middlegame.
10 exf6!
Now 10...♘xd4?? 11 f7 mate.
10...exf6 11 ♖e1+ ♗e7 12 ♘d5!
Better than 12 ♕xf6 because 12...♘xd4 13 ♘xf6+ and 14 ♗h6 mates.
12...♔f8 13 ♖xe7 ♕xe7!
Did White miscalculate (14 ♘xe7 ♘xd4)?
14 ♗h6+!
No, 14...♔g8 15 ♘xf6+ is mate and 14...♘xh6 15 ♘xe7 is hopeless.
14...♔e8 15 ♕c3 ♕d6 16 ♖e1+ ♔d8 17 ♗f4 ♕c6 18 ♕xf6+!
Black resigned before 18...♕xf6 19 ♗c7 mate.
Kaszim Gulamali White
Benjamin Shoykhet Black
St. Louis 2015
1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 ♘xc3 ♘c6 5 ♘f3 g6 6 ♗c4 ♗g7 7 ♕b3? e6? 8 ♘b5 a6 9 ♘d6+ ♔e7 10 ♗f4 b5 11 ♗e2 ♘f6 12 0-0-0 ♘g4 13 ♖hf1 ♕b6 14 ♔b1 ♘a5? 15 ♕b4 and wins.
Question 208: Why the question marks at move 7?