Chess Improvement

FM Eric Schiller wrote:

1.d4 e5 is junk but delaying the gambit works:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 (Albin)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 (Winawer Countergambit)

Of course there are hundreds of less sound gambits, but in any case there is no way you can guarantee a sharp game. 1.d4 e5 2.c3 or 1.d4 c5 2.e3 keep things calm. You need to learn to play a slow opening and blow things up later. You’ll find a lot of examples in my games.

The best, I think, is the Tarrasch Defense with the Schara and Henning Gambits, or the Swedish Variation, or the Old Tarrasch Gambit (9.dxc5 d4!? in the main line). In any case, you’ll find fantastic brawls in the Tarrasch. Rotlevi-Rubinstein is proof that even the symmetrical variation isn’t boring! Click the Link at the end of this post for a great video of the Classic Rotlevi-Rubinstein Game from 1907 Lodz.

For the record, the Von Hennig-Schara Gambit (note the spelling
[sic]) goes:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 cxd4*
instead of the “normal” 4 … exd5.

In my correspondence games database, this scores W=45% B=32% D=23%, or 56%/44%, or slightly lower than average for Black (though sharp games often go this way when the opponent has the time or book knowledge to react effectively). This spread, by the way, doesn’t vary over time – it’s pretty constant through all the years in the database.

For OTB: W=43% B=33% D=24%, or 55%/45% over 1200 games. Still lower than average for Black, but respectable. Your mileage will, of course, vary.

I understand you can also delay the gambit …e4 even later in the QGD; if I remember correctly, the name changes again at some point to the QGD Marshall Gambit (as compared to the same move, same name in the French Marshall Gambit; apparently he just loved to give the thing away).

So, it seems the name for this move (…e5) in the QGD is like New England weather: if you don’t like it, wait 15 minutes and it will change.

http://www.chessedelic.com/2008/06/02/the-worlds-most-famous-chess-combinations-4-rotlevi-v-rubinstein/

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1. e4 e5 2. f4

Take the pawn. 2. …exf4

Then 3.Nf3 d6 !

Bobby Fischer thought that move refuted the King’s Gambit,
and that may be an exaggeration, but I can find nothing good for White here.

4. d4 g5 or 4.Bc4 Bg4.

NM Eric Schiller writes:

Fischer’s analysis was debunked long ago, and this line leads to the kinds of positions King’s Gambiteers love to play. I think the capture is better delayed: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5! 3.exd5 exf4! That leads to lines of the Modern Variation which are known to be good for Black, and White can’t use any of the alternatives at move 3 that are available after 2…exf4.

I still question anyone who has debunked anything Fischer said.

Here is a chess video from J Robi of Fischer playing this opening.

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