Gambit Guide

	"Gambit Guide"

GM BorisAlterman

Gambit Guide
In his weekly video lecture series for ICC, Boris Alterman's Gambit Guide, Boris investigates gambits old and new and show that, while some may not be actively played on the grandmaster circuit these days, they are all exciting to play and at the same time instructive as they teach us all about natural development of the pieces and tactics in chess. GM Boris Alterman has just opened his official blog where, among other things, he'll be discussing some of his choices for his Gambit Guide.


Goring Gambit - In a new set of videos for his weekly Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman looks at the Goring Gambit, one of the most swashbuckling options for White in the Open Games after 1 e4 e5. It is fun, easy to learn and virtually unavoidable since White can deploy the crafty move order 2 d4 exd4 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 c3 to avoid the Petroff Defense and the Philidor Defense . Even today, the Goring Gambit is still a strong practical weapon where with best play Black achieves no more than equality. However, the lively attacking positions insure that White will have a lot of pressure, even against best play, and a slight error by Black can prove fatal.



Scandinavian Gambit - The Scandinavian or Center Counter with 1 e4 d5 is one of the oldest asymmetric defenses in chess history, dating back to 1475. It became a theory backwater though for many years until it was revitalized and rechristened "the Scandinavian" due to it being adopted by Denmark's Bent Larsen, who defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it. It is now extremely popular at club level, and particularly the line 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6, the so-called Marshall Gambit (or Scandinavian Gambit) after U.S. Champion Frank Marshall. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman shows how the "Sizzling Scandinavian" can be a potent weapon for Black.



Latvian Gambit - The Latvian Gambit with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5!? is one of the most exciting and fascinating openings with a long and storied history in chess literature. The name was a tribute to the Latvian players, notably Karlis Betins (1867-1943), who analyzed it in the early part of the 20th century. Although it is almost impossible to find in the repertoire of a professional player, amateurs, correspondence players and online aficionados here at the ICC have long found the tactical labyrinth of the main lines to be highly appealing. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman puts the Latvian under the microscope.



Krejcik Gambit - In a new series of Gambit Guide, GM Boris Alterman again responds to ICC members who have asked our resident expert in all things gambits what to do in the Krejcik Gambit in the Dutch Defense!



Alekhine 4-Pawns Attack - In a new series of Gambit Guide, GM Boris Alterman again responds to ICC members who have asked our resident expert in all things gambits what to do in the Alekhine 4-Pawns Attack if Black eschews the big main line with 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nc3 e6 9. Nf3 Be7 10. d5 Nb4?! His answer? Look no further than a particularly aggressive gambit line with 11. Rc1 f6 12. a3 Na6 13. g4!? - originally a recommendation of the leading Soviet master of his day Alexander Zaitsev (1935-71), and lately given the big thumbs up by another top Russian in Alexander Morozevich!



Italian-Koltanowski gambit - In a new series of Gambit Guide, GM Boris Alterman responds to the many requests from ICC members to delve into very aggressive lines such as the Italian-Koltanowski gambit with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4. 0-0 Nf6 5. d4!? It looks like a complete throwback to a bygone romantic age of the 19th-century, but, surprisingly, two Super-GMs were slugging it out with it in the very modern setting of the Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament earlier this year, as Sergey Movsesian dusted off this forgotten variation to beat Michael Adams. Could it be a case of Back to the Future with this vicious line being brought back into praxis?



4 knight's Rubenstein - When the great "uncrowned king" Akiba Rubinstein introduced the variation that bears his name (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4) into praxis at San Sebastian 1912, overnight the formal fearsome Spanish Four Knights, which up until then was a popular opening, went into rapid decline. And now, in the latest series of Gambit Guide, GM Boris Alterman shows why even today this is a good line to have in your arsenal, as the resulting pawn sacrifice allows Black to dominate the centre.



King's Gambit - No adventure in chess is complete without deploying a King's Gambit sometime in your career; the history of which is almost as old as the modern game itself. It was first analyzed in Giulio Polerio's sixteenth-century manuscript, reached its zenith in the nineteenth-century when it was almost de riguer, had a brief renaissance during the 1960s thanks to Boris Spassky and David Bronstein, only now becoming unfashionable due to defensive techniques. But now, in his latest Gambit Guide series for ICC Chess.FM, Israeli GM Boris Alterman shows that this romantic of openings can still pack a hefty punch even today for those looking for a surprise weapon at club and tournament level.




Staunton Gambit - Dutch defense - GM Boris Alterman takes a look at the Staunton Gambit against the Dutch Defense with 1 d4 f5 2 e4!? - one of the most direct and provocative lines against the normally solid Dutch. The Staunton Gambit has a long history having being named after Howard Staunton, who first played it against Horwitz in 1847. Basically, it is a bold attempt from the very first moves to demonstrate that by giving away the central pawn White can show that Black’s first move is misguided because it exposes the king. In practical experience it scores well at club level where an accurate defence is awkward to play when White is unleashing a rampaging attack, with Black having to play carefully as any little slip can often lead to a miniature.



Panov Attack Caro-Kann defense- GM Boris Alterman looks at the Panov-Botvinnik Attack against the Caro-Kann Defense - a line that can also be transposed to from many openings, including the Queen's Gambit and the Nimzo-Indian Defense The Panov-Botvinnik Attack has a unique important place in chess lore. After Capablanca adopted the Caro-Kann, it assumed a status as the solid way for Black to escape attacking efforts of e4 players. But Vasily Panov, a Soviet master, theoretician and Chess correspondent for “Izvestia”, took a different view of the situation and decided to test Black’s mettle with the direct action of 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4. Mikhail Botvinnik picked up on this and quickly formed it into a potent weapon that has since become the choice of determined king pawn players.



Milner-Barry Gambit - The Milner-Barry Gambit (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3) is very popular at club level, and one of the sharpest white weapons against the French Defense. It was invented by legendary World War II Enigma Code breaker Sir Stuart Milner-Barry, who always liked to play with a sense of adventure. Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman re-evaluates the Milner-Barry Gambit as a potent weapon for white - and especially for players who like to play actively.



From's Gambit -The Bird's Opening with 1 f4 can take on the positional characteristics of a reversed Dutch Defense. But rather than that, Black has the sharp option of 1...e5!?, From's Gambit, named after the Danish player Severin From (1828-1895). White can then transpose into the King's Gambit with 2.e4. If he prefers to stay in the Bird's Opening, play can continue 2 fxe5 d6, where white must play very precisely to squelch Black's attacking chances. Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman looks at the From's Gambit as an ideal antidote to the Bird's Opening - and doubly so if black is a dedicated 1 e4 e5 player.



Janisch Gambit Ruy Lopez - The Jaenisch or Schliemann Gambit in the Ruy Lopez with 3 ...f5 dates back to 1847. This provocative pawn sacrifice by black as early as move three often leads to games of a swashbuckling nature. Black dictates the action from the earliest moment - and often it can confuse the players of the white pieces. It has received a new lease of life with its adoption at elite level by Teimour Radjabov and others. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at the Jaenisch/Schliemann Gambit.



Chatard-Alekhine Attack - The Chatard-Alekhine Attack in the Classical French Defense with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!? is a formidable weapon in the hands of an aggressive player - and only a few years ago, Alexander Morozevich used it to demolish French expert Viktor Korchnoi in just 20 moves! White sacrifices his h-pawn for an immensely dangerous initiative. This leads to the complex struggle, where White has rapid and easy development. Now. in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman looks at the dangerous Chatard-Alekhine Attack.



Central Attack Philidor Defence - "Pawns are the soul of chess," once opined the mild-mannered 18th century French musical composer Francois-Andre Philidor, who was also the most famous chess-player of his day. He championed 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 as an alternative to the more common 2 ...Nc6. The seemingly passive defense went from obscurity to everyone having a closer look in the late 1960s with Bent Larsen's pamphlet, "Why Not the Philidor Defense?" Popular recent books though by GM Tony Kosten, and more lately The Philidor Files by GM Christian Bauer, has seen a revival in the Philidor at club level. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at the Philidor's Defense, including his main idea of the counter-gambit with 3 ..f5!?



Albin Countergambit - Invented nearly 90 years ago by the Austrian master Adolf Albin (1848-1920), the Albin counter-gambit (1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5!?) gives up a pawn for space in the center and is generally thought to be unsound - but Black has many tricks and traps to hold the balance. For many years it was a big favorite at club level, but regarded as dubious at top level, as Black doesn’t gain full value for the sacrificed pawn. But Alexander Morozevich soon changed all that by breathing new life into it. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at the Albin Counter Gambit.



Two Knights Chigorin Gambit - 4. Ng5 in the Two Knight's Defense is an interesting, sharp move that practically wins a pawn by force, but Siegbert Tarrasch called it a "duffer's move". We all know of the swashbuckling Wilkes-Barre Variation, Lolli Variation and the Traxler Counter-gambit that are all part of the sacrificial Fried Liver Attack. Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series for Chess.FM, GM Boris Alterman looks into what is regarded as a more common Black response, attributed to Mikhail Chigorin, the Father of Russian Chess, that eschews all of the complications with 4... d5 5. exd5 Na5.



Two Knights Morphy Attack - 4. Ng5 in the Two Knight's Defense is an interesting, sharp move that practically wins a pawn by force, but Siegbert Tarrasch called it a "duffer's move". A common response is 4... d5 5. exd5, and we all know of the swashbuckling Wilkes-Barre Variation, Lolli Variation and the sacrificial Fried Liver Attack. But Black usually eschews all this with the main-line counter-gambit with 5...Na5. Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series for Chess.FM, GM Boris Alterman looks into the Morphy Variation with 6 d3, where Paul Morphy, the "pride and sorrow of chess," advocated trying to hang on to the pawn. Can it really be so simple for White to hang on to the pawn, or does Black have sufficient counter-play?



Max Lange Attack - Some openings are so unbalanced that one false move can cost you the game. A prime example being the Max Lange Attack, one of the stormiest opening systems of the 19th century that was named after the German master of the same name, who first suggested it in 1854. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at the out of vogue Max Lange with 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5. 0-0 Bc5!? - a position that can be reached by a plethora of openings, such as the Two Knights Defense, Petroff's Defense, Scotch Gambit, Bishop's Opening, Center Game and Giuoco Piano.



Urusov Gambit - Boris Alterman explores the exciting Urusov Gambit in the Bishop's Opening with 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4!, a fertile training ground for those looking to improve their basic understanding of tactics. Documented by Ponziani in the 18th century, this gambit was first analyzed in 1857 by Russian aristocrat Prince Sergei Urusov, a close friend of the chess-playing literary icon Leo Tolstoy, and one of Russia's best players of his day. The gambit was deployed in a number of correspondence games between the two and mentioned in surviving letters in the Tolstoy collection, but alas the games themselves have been lost.



Benko Gambit - GM Boris Alterman explores the Benko Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5). Black's counterplay is very durable compared to many other gambits, in that the queenside pressure can last well into the endgame. The idea to sacrifice a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 was an old favorite of Czech master Karel Opocensky in the mid-1930s. Then, the original name of the opening was the Volga Gambit - named after the Volga River - after an article about 3...b5!? by B. Argunow that appeared in the magazine Schachmaty in USSR of 1946. But it soon shot to fame and near universal club-level adoption at the end of the 1960s after its eponym, Pal Benko, honed and developed the gambit into a potent attacking weapon for black on the back of many big U.S. Swiss victories during this period.



Traxler counter-attack - Boris Alterman continues to explore the tricky Two Knights Defense, as he moves on to the Traxler (or Wilkes-Barre) counter-attack with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 Bc5!? It's named after the Czech priest Karel Traxler, who first played a game in the line in 1890. However, it wasn't until Correspondence World champion Yakov Estrin wrote a famed book on the Two Knights some 80 years later that the main theory of the opening really developed. The idea is to ignore the early attack on f7 with the bold 4...Bc5!?, as a sacrificial blitz soon ensues.



Fried Liver Attack - Boris Alterman explores the legendary Fried Liver Attack in the Two Knights Defence with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5 6 Nxf7!? The Two Knights Defence is one of the trickiest tactical openings around. If White initiates complications with the so-called Fried Liver Attack, play becomes extremely sharp and gambits and counter gambits abound. Anyone who enters the murky waters of the Fried Liver must be well prepared for the mind-boggling complications that ensue.



Falkbeer Counter Gambit - In a new three-part video series, Boris Alterman explores a reliable counter to the King's Gambit with 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4, the Falkbeer Counter Gambit. Ever since 1850, when Ernst Falkbeer published his analysis, the Falkbeer Counter Gambit has been a theoretically important and reliable system against the King's Gambit. There is a certain spirit in this defense that not only thwarts Whites aims of quick development of the venerable gambit but is complicated by an offer of a pawn on d5. This spirit is consistent with the great attacking play of Anderssen and Morphy and their Falkbeer games can be found in many classic game collections.



Hennig-Schara Gambit - Boris Alterman explores an aggressive way to disarm the Queen's Gambit with 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 cxd4!?, the Hennig-Schara Gambit. It was first noted by Austrian master Anton Schara, who used it to defeat Ernest Gruenfeld during an offhand game at Vienna in 1918. Then ten years later, the relatively little-known German master Heinrich von Hennig picked up on Schara's published analysis to be the first to do any serious study of the gambit and introduced it into tournament praxis at Duisburg 1929. With the dynamic complexities of this early gambit against the normally solid Queen's Gambit, you can confuse and dismay many a 1 d4 players, creating excellent preconditions for winning chess - for Black!



Budapest Gambit - GM Boris Alterman explores the Budapest Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5). The Budapest is popular with club and internet chess players all over the world, and it is easy to see why. It has surprise value, it’s not hard to learn, and it leads to sharp and dynamic play from the very start of the game. It was first played by Hungarian great Geza Maroczy at Budapest, 1896, but it was his fellow countrymen Abonyi, Barasz and Breyer who developed and popularized the opening in the early part of the 20th-century. While it is rarely seen at top level (though Mamedyarov deployed it in 2008 at the Amber tournament to beat Kramnik! Game HERE), it is not only solid and reliable, but you can also catch unaware opponents out in one of the myriad of opening traps to pick up a free win!



Cochrane Gambit - Boris Alterman explores the Cochrane Gambit against the normally staid Petroff's Defence with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nxf7!? - an idea that stunned the chess world not only when it was first played in 1848, but also when Veselin Topalov resurrected it again in 1999 against Vladimir Kramnik at Linares. A swashbuckler by nature, 19th-century Scottish master John Cochrane (1798 - 1878) - who is also associated with the confusing naming history of the Scotch Game - was the epitome of the early romantic era of chess, and his legacy lives on through the centuries with his daring tactical idea that survives unrefuted to this day. The Cochrane Gambit involves the sacrifice of a knight as early as move four to lure out the opponent's king in a complex board full of pieces, whilst pushing forward in the center with a mobile armada of pawns.



Evans Gambit - This week, Boris starts a two video series investigating perhaps one of the soundest of the romantic gambits from the 18th century that is still used at top level in the game today - The Evans Gambit with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4!? Captain William Davies Evans was the captain of a sailing packet carrying mail between Milford Haven and Waterford in Great Briton in the 1820s. During one of these crossings the gallant captain suddenly discovered a promising new fourth move for White And so, the Evans Gambit was born… Coming at the height of the romantic period in the game, the swashbuckling gambit soon took the imagination of the chess world and was adopted by the likes of McDonnell, Labourdonnais, Anderssen, Moprhy, Chigorin and Steinitz. However, despite never being refuted, the gambit went out of fashion at the turn of the 20th Century – only to come back in dramatic style in 1995, when Garry Kasparov rehabilitated this venerable old gambit.



Danish Gambit - The Dashing Danish explores the 19th-century Danish Gambit, first popularized by Danish player Severin From at the Paris tournament of 1867, with 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Bc4 cxb2 5 Bxb2 - an instant attack favored by swashbuckling masters such as Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne, and Mieses.