A bit of light relief …

 [Event "Wymondham Eagles v Lowestoft B"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.02.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Hickman, N."] [Black "Nettleton, M."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C37"] [Annotator "Hickman,Neil"] [PlyCount "45"]   {On the way to Lowestoft, one of my team-mates remarked that Nettleton played the Dutch (Bother - although I am playing 1 d4 a lot these days, I haven't really looked at the White side of the Dutch) and that he tended to like aggressive openings. So, chancing my arm a bit...} 1. f4 {If Black had replied 1... d5 I would have been quite happy to head into a Stonewall/Colle-Zukertort sort of formation with a Queen-side fianchetto. But my opponent likes aggressive openings...} e5 {Exactly as anticipated. But White doesn't have to acquiesce in accepting the From Gambit} 2. e4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 ({I have been meaning to look at the lines beginning} 4. h4 g4 {for about 50 years and haven't got round to it yet}) 4... g4 5. O-O ({I briefly considered the Salvio Gambit with} 5. Ne5 {but there were limits to how bonkers I was willing to be.}) 5... gxf3 6. Qxf3 Qf6 7. e5 Qxe5 {After the game, Mark told me that he had had the White side of this line a few times and not got anywhere with it, so thought he'd try it from the other side. And up to here, Black's play is absolutely "book".} 8. d3 ({A bit of a cop-out. I was aware of} 8. Bxf7+ {(the "Double" or "Wild" Muzio) which many feel was rehabilitated by} Kxf7 9. d4 Qxd4+ 10. Be3 Qf6 11. Bxf4 Bg7 12. Nc3 Ne7 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5+ Qe6 15. Bd2+ Kg8 16. Rae1 Qxd5 17. Re8+ Bf8 18. Bh6 {1-0 Smirnov-Tikhonov, Moscow 1954; but I couldn't remember what happened in the Smirnov game apart from the fact that there was a Queen sac in the main line. So I decided not to risk a second piece. Even if Black's position is theoretically defensible, the tactical strain is going to be enormous.}) 8... Bc5+ ({Out of the book. I remembered that Black is supposed to play} 8... Bh6 {and was cudgelling my brains to remember what White is meant to do after he does.}) 9. Kh1 d6 10. Bxf4 Qf6 11. Nc3 {The normally very materialistic Fritz has this position as +/- despite White being a whole piece to the bad. As often happens in this sort of 19th-century knockabout opening, Black's Queen-side pieces might as well not be on the board. So while White must try to keep the initiative, he doesn't need to fret about winning back the sacrificed material in a hurry.} c6 12. Ne4 Qf5 (12... Qg6 13. Bxd6 {wins}) 13. Rae1 ({Curiously, this principled developing move seems to be inferior to} 13. Qe2 {with the double threat of a Bishop discovery against the Q and a ruinous discovered check on the e-file. As so often, the key to the tactics is getting two threats to arrive at once.}) 13... Ne7 14. Qg3 Qg6 15. Bg5 Be6 16. Bxe6 {I'd spent nearly half an hour between move 12 and here, but now the way home is clear.} fxe6 (16... Qxe6 17. Nxc5 {is too horrible to contemplate}) 17. Rf6 Nf5 18. Qh3 Qg8 19. Rxf5 $1 {With the horrid threat of a fork on f6 picking up the Queen.} Nd7 20. Rxc5 ({Fritz claims a forced mate in 18 after} 20. Nxd6+ Bxd6 21. Qh5+ Qg6 22. Rxe6+ {but the move played is quite good enough}) 20... dxc5 ({Normal service is resumed, as White goes behind on material once more. After} 20... Nxc5 {Fritz claims a forced mate in 10 after} 21. Nxc5 {though in the real world I would of course have played the knight fork which is quite good enough to win comfortably.}) 21. Nd6+ {And, as I had worked out, there is a forced mate, which my opponent sportingly allows me to administer.} Kf8 22. Rf1+ Kg7 {Bl ck has a couple of meaningless interpositions, but no defence, and opts for a quick end.} 23. Qh6# {Not, perhaps, the sort of thing you want to be doing every week. One's nerves will only stand a certain amount...}