6/26/2020 – In this Power Play Show Grandmaster Daniel King takes a look at the King's Gambit and shows how Alexander Morozevich (pictured) defeated Vishy Anand with this old but exciting opening. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer. | Photo: Chess Festival Biel (Archive)
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Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.
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Still exciting: The King's Gambit
The King's Gambit is a very old opening but it still often leads to complicated and unusual positions. The King's Gambit was already mentioned in Lucena's Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez from 1497 and the ChessBase Mega Database contains a game from 1560 in which White overruns his opponent with the King's Gambit.
Until the late 19th century the King's Gambit was very popular, but today top level players employ it only rarely because according to theory Black has more than one way to equalize. However, players like Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, Judit Polgar, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich, and others, liked or like to play the King's Gambit occasionally or even regularly. Even Magnus Carlsen, who is known for his solid approach and his technical skills, gave the King's Gambit the occasional try. Some examples:
Boris Spassky plays the King's Gambit
Bobby Fischer plays the King's Gambit
Judit Polgar plays the King's Gambit
Vassily Ivanchuk plays the King's Gambit
Magnus Carlsen plays the King's Gambit
These games show that the King's Gambit has a lot to offer. And on his recently published DVD about the King's Gambit Daniel King shows why this old opening is a dangerous weapon that is interesting and fun to play.
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.
In today's Power Play Show King also takes a look at the King's Gambit. He writes:
"I have recently been preparing the follow up to my King's Gambit repertoire DVD: The King's Gambit Tactics Toolbox. This will feature all the typical tactical themes that you can expect when playing the King's Gambit and is the perfect complement to the repertoire DVD. I'll give you a taste of what you can expect on that.
The main focus will be a spectacular game in the Bishop's Gambit between Morozevich and Anand from 1995, and examining how the former World Champion improved his opening play against the same opponent 23 years later.
But first a little warm-up: Good technique requires good calculation. How did Fabiano Caruana finish the game efficiently from the position below? This features one of my favourite themes..."
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Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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.
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.
In this powerful new course, endgame expert Karsten Müller teams up with rising star Leon Mendonca to deliver what truly matters: 10 essential rules that every player must know.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
From the 2026 Candidates Tournament, featuring a video review by Dorian Rogozenco, to Jan Werle’s opening video on the French Tarrasch Defence, and Oliver Reeh’s tactical column ‘Top Grandmasters at Work’. Analyses by Giri, So, Wei Yi and many others.
You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
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