Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Having fun with the Halloween Gambit

by Robert Ris
3/11/2021 – In this week's show, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at at a wild but entertaining gambit: the Halloween Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5!?. Have fun and enjoy! | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to understand better the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, it helps when you can just

Bold and daring: the Halloween Gambit!

Have you always thought that the Four Knights Opening is boring? Then you probably haven't heard of the Halloween Gambit! After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 White does not continue to develop but instead tries the rather shocking 4.Nxe5!?, a popular choice among club players.

White's main idea is to quickly seize the initiative by advancing pawns in the centre, harassing the black knights. Many Black players will be unfamiliar with this concept and will struggle to find a satisfying solution.

However, White still sacrifices a piece, and in quite a number of lines Black will be able to get an advantage, but that shouldn't discourage the daredevils! White's lead in development will certainly give you great attacking chances - so why not give it a try!?

But first a warm-up: White to play

 

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This week's show

Robert is on air every other Thursday at 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET / 16:00 EST)

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Solution of the exercise

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Bg4 8.Be3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 exd4 10.Bxd4 Nc6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qd2 Nd7 13.Rad1 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Qf6 15.Qc1 Nc5 16.Qb1 Qe6 17.Rfe1 Qxc4 18.b3 Qc3 19.Bd2 Qf6 20.Bc1 h5 21.Bb2 Ne5 22.Be2 h4 23.Qc1 g5 24.Bb5 Re7 25.Re3 Qg6 26.Be2 Rae8 27.Qc2 Ne6 28.f3 Nf4 29.Bf1 c6 30.Qf2 Re6 31.Rc3 d5 32.g3 hxg3 33.hxg3 dxe4 34.gxf4 gxf4+ 35.Qg2 exf3 36.Qxg6+ Rxg6+ 37.Kh1 f2 38.Bh3 Nc4 39.Rxc4 Re1+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wojtaszek,R2705Caruana,F28230–12021E9483rd Tata Steel Masters9.4

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Robert is an International Master who mostly spends his time training and coaching talented youngsters. On the PlayChess server The Fast and the Furious is a popular show where he explains sharp opening lines for a wider audience. He is also a well-known ChessBase author who produced numerous DVDs and regularly contributes to ChessBase Magazine as well. Since 2015 he is the organizer of the Dutch Rapid Championships in his home town Amstelveen. He has started a YouTube channel with chess analysis as well.

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