8.5 out of 10 with the King's Gambit

by ChessBase
6/30/2014 – That's the personal record of Simon Williams in recent years. No wonder, that the English GM fell in love with this unique, old and creative opening. On his popular and critically acclaimed DVDs about the King's Gambit he invites the reader to (re)discover this most romantic of all chess openings and to play successful attacking chess!

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"Sacrifice and Mate!"

 

On his first DVD about the King's Gambit Williams presented his repertoire recommendation (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4), and on his second DVD he completed the material by showing what may happen if White plays 3.Nf3 or if Black declines the King's Gambit - which you have to know if you want to play 3.Bc4.

When visiting the ChessBase offices in Hamburg, GM Karsten Müller, who at the moment happens to work on an article about the King's Gambit for the ChessBase Magazine, came across the DVDs by Williams. When viewing the second DVD at home he saw that Williams talks about the so-called "Rosentreter Gambit", a line that experts consider to be refuted. Williams mentions this refutation, but while this shows his expertise, players with White might still be at a loss what to play instead. However, there's an alternative that is quite attractive, particularly for clubplayers. Müller therefore proposed: Exit "Rosentreter", enter "Quaade".

In the "Quaade Gambit" (1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Nc3 Bg7 5.d4 g4 6.Bxf4 gxf3) White sacrifices a piece for somewhat unclear compensation he has to prove on the board. But in contrast to the "Rosentreter-Gambit" the "Quaade-Gambit" is not refuted and Black is given every chance to blunder the game with a single move.

Last week the two authors discussed the pros and cons of the variations and Williams gratefully took up the input from his colleague. They inspired him to another video, in which he presents an update of his recommendations for 3.Nf3-players. Have a look at the video and get inspired by Williams' enthusiasm fired by an attacking game of Jesus Seoane Sepulveda!

"One of the nicest checkmates I have ever seen!"

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In case you are wondering about the names of these unusual variations: According to The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld the Quaade Gambit was "advocated by a Dutch sea-captain D.L. Quaade, in 1882 but known earlier. The analysis was elaborated in the pages of the Deutsche Schachzeitung by the German lawyer Carl Friedrich Schmid (1840-97)".

Things get interesting: Does White have enough compensation in the Quaade Gambit?

About the "Rosentreter Gambit" the Oxford Companion has the following to say: "Old variation of the King's Gambit Accepted, advocated in 1882 by the German army captain Adolf Rosentreter (1844-1920)."

The starting position of the "Rosentreter Gambit", arising after the moves 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4

Cover of The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld.
Even in the times of Wikipedia and the internet an invaluable source of chess knowledge

See also: "Having Fun with the King's Gambit: An Interview with Simon Williams"

 

 


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