gambit

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Gambit (disambiguation) .

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White sacrifices a wing pawn (4. b2 – b4) in Evans' gambit.

Under a Gambit ( dt. [ Gambɪt ] . Ital Gambetto ) refers to the chess an opening in which a farmer (or several farmers) or a minor piece - often more - for a tactical or sometimes strategic abandoned compensation opponent becomes.

The intention can be summarized simply: "At the price of a sacrifice, the gambit player tries to turn the tide in his favor at the opening." Usually, a gain in tempo and developmental advantage is achieved for the sacrificed material .

Etymology and word meaning

The term gambit was first used in 1561 in the work of the Spaniard Ruy López de Segura . The word comes from Italian, as Ruy López states, and is apparently borrowed from a technical term used in wrestling - in the sense of dare il gambetto (to stand on a leg). After being used by Ruy López, the term was later adopted in other languages. In contrast to this, a derivation from the Arabic word ǧānibī ("side") has also been assumed. No further evidence is known for this.

The plural form is Gambits (more rarely also Gambite ), but is not often used in German-language chess literature.

In English, the term gambit has also assumed a figurative meaning. What is meant is a risky and tricky strategy or a clever opening of a conversation or a negotiation in order to gain an advantage. Occasionally there is a use of the transferred meaning in German, usually as a translation from English; then the more general phrase “a clever move” is also possible.

Basics

A gambit can be accepted or rejected by the opponent. If the gambit player receives sufficient compensation , the gambit is said to be correct. Compensation can exist in the form of developmental advantage and attack chances if the gambit brings positional or tactical advantages ( opening a critical line , distracting an opposing figure, etc.). The correctness of individual gambits is often controversial. Practical testing and detailed analyzes help clarify these questions.

In individual cases it is possible that the opponent not only rejects the gambit, but with a counter-gambitanswers. Examples are the Falkbeer Counter Gambit and Albin's Counter Gambit . This expression is also used in general to denote the gambit openings of the trainee. A fake gambit is when there is no real victim and z. B. the batting pawn (assuming the alleged gambit) cannot be asserted in the further course. One such case is the Queen's Gambit , but for historical reasons - and by analogy with the King's Gambit - the traditional name is retained. Conversely, there are openings like the Marshall Attack , the name of which does not reveal the Gambit character.

The chess psychology and the element of surprise play a major role in Gambit openings. If the gambit is accepted, the game is materially unbalanced and a calm, positional course of the game is called into question. The attacker takes a calculated risk if the selected Gambit variant is known to be dubious. If necessary, he can compensate for this disadvantage with precise theoretical knowledge and the psychological moment of pressure. Furthermore, the opponent's skill level has to be taken into account: Grandmaster Fritz Sämisch took the view that “every gambit can be played” if you are 1) “an imaginative attacking and combination player ” and 2) “if you play stronger than his opponents. "

The gambit game plays a bigger role in human chess than in computer chess , in which psychological aspects are ignored. At the level of the Grand Master's Chess , controversial gambit variants are also used far less often than among amateur players.

History of the Gambit Game

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Gambit game in chess history: "Gambit of the three pawns" (18th century)

Since the reform of the European chess game through the expansion of the possibilities of movement, which began in the last quarter of the 15th century, the gambit variants with their lively figure play have drawn attention. In the early phase of opening theory and, in principle, well into the 19th century, the sometimes forced turns of many gambit variants of the open games and especially the branched king gambit took up a considerable part of the "book knowledge" (therefore these openings do not necessarily have to predominate in the game practice ).

After all, the psychological aspects were more important then than they are today. Even strong players often had the personal honor of accepting a risky gambit. Conversely, "brave" gambit players accepted the incorrectness of a sacrifice. Bold variants such as the figurative sacrifice of the Muzio Gambit met with admiration, and even several peasants were sometimes without hesitation sacrificed for initiative and attack. This was the case with a sensational opening in the 18th century, the "Gambit of the Three Pawns " (a variant in the Cunningham Gambit ), which also occupied a positional chess thinker like Philidor . The basic position (the one following the moves: 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. f2 – f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1 – f3 Bf8 – e7 4. Bf1 – c4 Be7 – h4 + 5. g2 – g3 f4xg3 6. 0–0 g3xh2 + 7. Kg1 – h1 emerges) is a model case for a daring gambit game on both sides.

In the 19th century, when the almost scientific penetration of many openings began, especially in England and Germany ( Berlin School ), the Gambit variants were critically discussed. First of all, with the Evans Gambit , other important gambit openings were discovered and tried out. But with the decisive breakthrough to positionally sound chess, which is associated with the name of Wilhelm Steinitz , the game of gambit fell into a crisis. Many Gambit variants were now considered incorrect. The first tournaments and the professionalization of the leading chess players did the rest. An unnecessary risk was avoided more and more and the secure pursuit of winning the game came to the fore as the exclusive goal.

At the same time, however, the Gambit games maintained their appeal to the general public. At times, experiments were carried out with holding tournaments in which the participants (e.g. the Vienna Gambit Tournament 1903) were determined to play a gambit. Ultimately, this had no consequences, and in the interwar period , when closed openings were preferred, the gambit game among masters continued to decline, even if u. a. Alekhine risked a gambit every now and then. An exception was Rudolf Spielmann , the "last knight of the King's Gambit".

In chess, which was largely dominated by Soviet grandmasters in the period after 1945, the picture should be modified somewhat. Leading players like Paul Keres , David Bronstein or Boris Spasski occasionally chose Gambit variants, which experienced a new upswing as a result. The practical "success they achieved, however, relied on psychological surprise rather than improved treatment of the gambit". Ultimately, there was no real turnaround at the top. The majority of the grandmasters consider the classic gambit openings to be incorrect. Bobby Fischer, for example, sternly judged in a well-known essay that the King's Gambit was "ruined".

Gambit openings in modern chess

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The basic position of the Marshall attack after 8.… d7 – d5

With the mass of chess players, the popularity of the Gambit openings is relatively unbroken. When Garry Kasparov exceptionally picked up the Evans gambit in the nineties, he was sure to receive the greatest attention. Kasparov had also succeeded in the 1985 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov in introducing a new gambit in the Sicilian defense and thus achieving an important victory. It is characteristic of this unusual event that effective antidotes were found later against the Kasparov Gambit - here too the element of surprise was decisive.

In general, every opening innovation in a Gambit variant naturally has a major impact, as it threatens to significantly change the existing judgment about the value of the relevant sharp line. The few gambit variants that are considered correct from today's point of view must therefore be treated with a maximum of mutual preparation, unless one side specifically avoids facing the appeal of the gambit game. These include the Marshall attack in the Spanish Opening , feared by many White players , in which Black sacrifices a pawn for a long-lasting initiative; the complicated variants were partly worked out until the transition to the final phase.

Some of the current Gambit variants are less aimed at immediate tactical advantages or an attack on the king. So z. For example, in the Morra Gambit , which begins with moves 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5 2. d2 – d4 c5xd4 3. c2 – c3, instead of tactical complications, a long-term positional pressure game is usually sought. Another example of this more strategic type of gambit is the Volga gambit .

An anti-gambit strategy that can often be observed in modern chess is that the defender waits for a suitable time to return the material and in turn achieve compensation or at least equalization.

The fans of the gambit game finally claim their own niche in the chess world with special themed tournaments and periodicals (some with a high theoretical level such as the magazine Kaissiber, which focuses on rare openings ) . The phenomenon extends to actual “fan communities” as in the case of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit . Not least because of the advance of computer chess, the theoretical exploration of even remote Gambit variants is growing to an unprecedented extent.

Some well-known Gambit openings

See also : Category: Gambit

• Alekhine Chatard attack 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e6 2. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. Bc1 – g5 Bf8 – e7 5. e4 – e5 Nf6 – d7 6. h2 – h4
• Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 2. e2 – e4 d5xe4 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. f2 – f3 e4xf3
• Blumenfeld Gambit 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 e7 – e6 3. Ng1 – f3 c7 – c5 4. d4 – d5 b7 – b5
• Budapest Gambit 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 e7 – e5 3. d4xe5 Nf6 – g4
  • Fajarowicz Gambit 3. d4xe5 Nf6 – e4 ?!
• Queen's gambit (not a real gambit. The pawn can be recaptured.) 1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 2. c2 – c4
  • Albin's counter-gambit 2.… e7 – e5
• Englund Gambit 1. d2 – d4 e7 – e5
• Evans Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – c4 Bf8 – c5 4. b2 – b4
• Froms Gambit 1. f2 – f4 e7 – e5
• Gambit variant of the Viennese game 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Nb1 – c3 Nb8 – c6 3. f2 – f4 or 2.… Ng8 – f6 3. f2 – f4
• Goering Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. d2 – d4 e5xd4 4. c2 – c3
• Halloween Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. Nf3xe5
• Italian gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – c4 Bf8 – c5 4. d2 – d4
• Janish Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – b5 f7 – f5
• King's Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. f2 – f4
  • Falconberry Counter-Gambit 2.… d7 – d5
• Latvian gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 f7 – f5
• Marshall attack 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – b5 a7 – a6 4. Bb5 – a4 Ng8 – f6 5. 0–0 Bf8 – e7 6. Rf1 – e1 b7– b5 7th La4-b3 0-0 8th c2-c3 d7-d5
• Middle Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. d2 – d4 e5xd4 if White does not play 3. Qd1xd4 and thus sacrifices the pawn.
• Morra Gambit 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5 2. d2 – d4 c5xd4 3. c2 – c3
• Nordic Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. d2 – d4 e5xd4 3. c2 – c3 d4xc3 4. Bf1 – c4
• Scottish gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. d2 – d4 e5xd4 4. Bf1 – c4
• Staunton Gambit 1. d2 – d4 f7 – f5 2. e2 – e4
• Traxler Counter Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – c4 Ng8 – f6 4. Nf3 – g5 Bf8 – c5
• Volga Gambit 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 c7 – c5 3. d4 – d5 b7 – b5

See also

• Pawn sacrifice

Wiktionary: Gambit  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

• László Alföldy: Gambit openings , Das Schach-Archiv Rattmann, Hamburg 1970.
• Jakow Estrin : Pawn sacrifice in the opening. A colorful gambit palette. Franckh, 2nd edition, Stuttgart 1983. ISBN 3-440-04880-2 .
• Anatoly Mazukewitsch: Rare Gambits. Sportverlag, Berlin 1988. ISBN 3-328-00240-5 .
• Sergiu Samarian : Quick wins in chess. The masterful gambit game , Falken, Niedernhausen 1989. ISBN 3-8068-1038-9 .
• Anatoli Mazukewitsch and Juri Rasuwajew : Gambite - played correctly , Beyer, Hollfeld 2006. ISBN 3-88805-491-5 .
• Sam Collins: Gambit Busters , Everyman, London 2010. ISBN 978-1-85744-642-5 .
• Boris Alterman : The Alterman Gambit Guide. White Gambits , Quality Chess, Gardena 2010. ISBN 1906552533 .

Web links

• DSB link collection: Openings list of the DSB with links to various Gambit pages
• "Scacchi: Enciclopedia pratica dei Gambetti" , Italian Gambit encyclopedia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jakow Estrin: Pawn sacrifice in the opening. A colorful gambit palette , Franckh, Stuttgart 1983 (2nd edition), p. 8.
2. ↑ Nabil Osman (Ed.): Small lexicon of German words of Arabic origin. CH Beck, Munich 1993 (4th edition), p. 54. (with reference to Karl Lokotsch: Etymological Dictionary of European Words of Oriental Origin , Heidelberg 1927)
3. ↑ On the use of the word in English cf. the examples in an essay by Jörg Seidel: Schach und Bond, James Bond (section: Use of chess vocabulary)
4. ↑ Tim Harding: Time to Gamble on a Gambit ( Memento from February 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 75 kB), ChessCafe.com, November 19, 2006
5. ↑ Fritz Samisch: Every gambit can be played . Deutsche Schachrundschau Caissa No. 3, 1952, pp. 42-44.
6. ↑ Jan van Reek: Four gambit tournaments ( Memento of October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Wassili Panow , Jakow Estrin: Basic features of the chess openings I. Open games. Rudi Schmaus, Heidelberg 1980, p. 23.
8. ↑ Fischer's Bust to the King's Gambit ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ See the game Kasparow-Anand , Riga 1995 ( Tal memorial tournament).