5/10/2024 – In their search for ways to throw their opponents off balance and create unusual positions, players such as the American GM Brandon Jacobson and Magnus Carlsen have recently tried out the so-called 'Meadow Hay Gambit' in blitz games: 1.a4 e5 2.Ra3!? An offer to win the exchange that Black cannot really refuse though White gets a surprising amount of compensation. Gambit expert Robert Ris has now made a 60-minute video course on this variation, and ChessBase readers who want to surprise their opponents with this sacrifice - or don't want to be surprised by it - can get this course for free now until Sunday.
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
€39.90
A surprise weapon: The Meadow Hay Gambit
Sacrificing an exchange on the second move is not easy, but in their search for ways to surprise their opponents and cause problems in the opening, the young American grandmasters Andrew Hong and Brandon Jacobson one day came up with the idea of playing 1.a4 in order to sacrifice an exchange after 1...e5 (or 1...e6) with 2.Ta3.
One might think that such opening moves only occur in games played by players who have just learnt the rules of chess, because after 2...Bxa3 Black is clearly better, if not already winning, if the engines are to be believed.
But as is so often the case in chess, things are not so simple and White has a surprising amount of compensation for the exchange and can exert pressure on the black squares as the game progresses.
This opening caused quite a stir when Brandon Jacobson, who played on the chess.com platform under the name 'Viih_Sou', tried this unusual manoeuvre over and over again in a long blitz match against Daniel Naroditsky on 2 May - with White and with Black. With White Jacobson played 1.a4 and 2.Ra3 in all games, while with Black he always opened with 1...a5 and 2...Ra6.
Naroditsky is not only a well-known and popular commentator, but also one of the best bullet and blitz players in the world, but he still couldn't find a recipe against Jacobson's provocative play and lost the match 29-40 (+26, -37, =6). This in turn led to Jacobson's 'Viih_Sou' account being banned for suspected cheating, which then led to long discussions on the internet and a detailed statement from Jacobson about the issue.
However, Magnus Carlsen was inspired by Jacobson's opening treatment and followed the American Grandmaster's example in the 'Early Titled Tuesday' on 7 May, playing 1.a4 and 2.Ra3 with White and 1...a5 and 2...Ra6 with Black in all 11 blitz games of the tournament. With 8.5 out of 11 this opening experiment was successful at first glance, but in the end the world number one only finished 14th.
In the "Late Titled Tuesday" Carlsen then shied away from too many opening experiments and won the tournament with 9.5 out of 11.
Robert Ris has now taken a closer look at this variation and explains in a 60-minute video what White and Black have to watch out for in this variation. At the same time, he warns "use at your own risk"!
To mark the occasion, ChessBase is making this video by Robert Ris available to all readers free of charge until Sunday!
Get the brand new edition of Robert Ris' 60 Minutes: The surprising Meadow Hay Gambit. Free until Sunday!
Here's how you do it:
If you already have a Chessbase Shop account, click on this link and log in. Then click on the front banner and the 60 Minutes course will be added to your downloads.
OR:
If you do not yet have a shop account, click on this link to create one. Once the account is verified, click on the front banner and the 60 Minutes course will be added to your downloads.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
If you're looking for a dynamic alternative to the Slav, Queen's Gambit Declined, or other mainstream systems, the Chigorin Defence offers exactly what modern tournament players need.
Michael Kotyk presents a complete repertoire after 1.e4 e5, built around creative ideas, surprising move orders, and practical weapons designed to catch your opponents off guard.
€69.80
€59.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
