Previously, I shared the “Scandalous Scandinavian Traps” I taught in the early 2010s to my star chess group in Fremont, California. When it came to countering the legion of scholastic players attempting the Fried Liver Attack, I chose to introduce them to the aggressive Fritz Variation: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4. While Richard Shorman championed the Wilkes-Barre Variation—also known as the Traxler Counterattack—Francisco Anchondo demonstrated how dangerous the Fritz Variation could be against unprepared opponents. Inspired by his insights, I quickly integrated these ideas into my lesson plans.
The moment I demonstrated the theory and key examples of the Fritz Variation to the talented young players in my Saturday chess club in Fremont, something remarkable happened. This group of highly gifted students began making waves in the scholastic chess scene. With a nearly 100% win rate as Black using the Fritz Variation, my students went on to secure both State and National Championships that same year.
Below, I share two of my favorite instructional games that fueled my students’ confidence and mastery of the Fritz Variation—games that inspired them to adopt this aggressive approach with great success!
[Event “Fabulous Fritz Variation”]
[Site “Fremont, California”]
[Date “2010.??.??”]
[Round “1”]
[White “?”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nd4 6.d6 Qxd6 7.Nxf7 Qc6 8.Nxh8
Qxg2 9.Rf1 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Nf3#
*
[Event “Fabulous Fritz Variation”]
[Site “Fremont, California”]
[Date “2010.??.??”]
[Round “2”]
[White “David”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “Chris Torres”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nd4 6.c3 b5 7.cxd4 bxc4 8.dxe5 Qxd5
9.exf6 Qxg5 10.O-O Bb7 11.f3 Bc5+ 12.Kh1 O-O-O 13.d4 Qxf6 14.Qa4 Bxd4 15.Nc3
Rhe8 16.Nb5 Re5 17.Nxd4 Rxd4 18.b3 Re2 19.Ba3 Qg6 20.Rg1 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Rxh2+
22.Kxh2 Rh4#
0-1
