Development of the Bryntse Gambit

by Jonathan Speelman
5/19/2019 – Our grandmaster columnist JON SPEELMAN reveals an embarrassing mishap at the closing dinner of the London Chess Classic and continues his investigation of games in the "Bryntse Gambit" queen sacrifice in the opening (on move six!) with theoretical contributions from a Polish IM by the name of Wladyslav Krol. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

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Speelman's Agony #98

A couple of weeks ago I looked at two games by American science writer Dana Mackenzie in the Bryntse Gambit, a splendid concoction in which White gets two pieces for the queen and an often slow burning but potentially raging attack.

KrolIt looks like great fun to play for White (especially at rapid or blitz time controls). And sound or not in theory, the only real downside I could see is that Black can decline it and get a perfectly good game fairly easily.

A few days ago I received a file in the drop box from the Polish Correspondence player, Senior IM Wladyslav Krol (pictured), with a dozen of his games in this line. So I'm continuing a look at the Bryntse this week with a selection of these with some light notes (all by me). But first, somewhat embarrassingly, a related game.

It comes from the closing dinner of the London Chess Classic a few years ago where the assembled heavyweights give a simultaneous against the diners, who are supposedly helped by grandmasters at their tables. It's not a situation I hugely relish and I would have been happy to draw quickly with the collective and get back to my wine but achieved the latter through a less propitious route...

 

Click or tap the second game in the list below the board to switch games

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Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analysing your play? You can!

To submit your games just upload a PGN or ChessBase file (.pgn or .cbv archive), along with your name and e-mail address. Send one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony).

Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played. Please do include your email address, so Jon can reply, and preferably a photo of yourself for our article.

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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.