A Trap in the Opening • Keene vs Fielder • Club Championship (1964) • Queen’s Pawn: Bogoljubow-Miles Variation (A40)

This game is a brilliant tactical miniature from a Club Championship in 1964, featuring a young player who would become one of Britain’s most prominent chess figures.

Raymond Keene, at the time of this game, was an emerging British talent. He would later become the second British player to achieve the Grandmaster title and a prolific chess author and organizer. His play here demonstrates a profound understanding of tactical imbalances.

E. Fielder was a club-level player who fell victim to a famous opening trap.

The game took place in September 1964. During this period, Keene was developing the sharp, scholarly style that would characterize his career. Club championships often served as the perfect laboratory for testing theoretical traps and aggressive lines against unsuspecting opponents. This particular encounter follows a line in the Queen’s Pawn Game that punishes premature aggression.

The game is a short, sharp execution resulting from a failed tactical excursion by Black in the opening (1.d4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.e4 Bg4). The game centers around the explosive sequence starting at move 4. Keene plays 4.d5, and after Black’s 4…Ne5, White offers a startling Queen sacrifice: 5.Nxe5!. Black, lured by the material gain, plays 5…Bxd1, but this is a fatal mistake. White’s point is revealed with 6.Bb5+. Black is forced to block with 6…c6, leading to 7.dxc6.

Black tries to scramble for safety with 7…Qa5+, but Keene calmly plays 8.Nc3. Black’s position is already critical. The sequence 9.Bxc6+ Kd8 10.Nxf7+ Kc7 allows White to recover significant material while keeping the Black King completely exposed in the center of the board.

By move 11, White has captured the Bishop and the Knight is eyeing the Rook on h8. Keene correctly navigates the complications, playing 12.Nxh8 and 13.O-O, leaving Black with a disjointed position and a massive material deficit.

The game concludes with a beautiful tactical flourish. After 18.Bf4, White exploits the alignment of Black’s pieces. Black’s Queen is lost to the fork: 19.Nd5+.

With the King and Queen forked, Fielder resigned immediately.