Svitlana's Smart Moves - The tricky Evans Gambit

by Arne Kaehler
6/14/2025 – In this episode, Svitlana gives an in-depth introduction to the Evans Gambit, a sharp and aggressive opening in the Italian Game that sacrifices a pawn to gain rapid development and attacking chances. She explains the main ideas for both sides, key traps, and various defensive setups for Black, emphasizing how crucial preparation and understanding of typical tactical patterns are. The lesson concludes with historical context, including a look at the famous "Evergreen Game" by Anderssen, and encourages viewers to explore this opening for its practical surprise value and rich attacking potential.

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

Svitlana's Smart Moves - Episode 118

With Svitlana Demchenko and Arne Kaehler

Svitlana Demchenko is a 20-year-old, Canadian WIM and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and everything else chess-related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the Women's International Master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video on our chessboard.

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If you like Svitlana's Smart moves, you will certainly enjoy her video lectures about "Surprising your opponents with the Lazy Sicilian", her first Fritztrainer "Understanding Material Imbalances", and her courses "The Scotch Game", and the "Leningrad Dutch Defence". Her newest Entry is the "King's Indian Attack"!

In just 60 minutes, you will be well-equipped with a surprise weapon, which will take most of your opponents out of book right from the start.

This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.

Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.

The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.

The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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Davidx1 Davidx1 6/17/2025 04:40
In 1883 Steinitz is already World Champion, he goes to New Orleans and wants to challenge Morphy, but this is not possible. Steinitz then plays with Maurian, a friend and usual opponent of Paul, and although he no longer plays ,by white, the Evans in official competitions from 1872, he decides to use the Gambit to show that he can do better than Morphy.
I can anticipate your every move and still find a way to achieve my goal.
arzi arzi 6/16/2025 09:00
The opening has also been used by Kasparov and Shirov. Kasparov against Piket and Anand, Shirov against Timman.
Davidx1 Davidx1 6/14/2025 04:06
It is an exciting opening even if it is not 100% logically correct.
In Bilguer's manual, 1843,there are variations good for black, as played by Anderssen against Morphy.
thirteen thirteen 6/14/2025 01:41
Can the Caro Kann get the Svitlana treatment?
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