The Blumenfeld Gambit

Sick of defending with Black? Never found a reliable way to fight for the initiative when White plays 1 d4? Allow Grandmaster Aveskulov to assist. He has put together a sound but ultra-aggressive repertoire based on gambits that have proved their worth in grandmaster play over many years. The Benko Gambit is dreaded by many 1 d4 players. Black gets very active piece-play, and even if White reaches a pawn-up endgame, he is often shocked to find he is worse due to Black's intense positional pressure! If White avoids the Benko, that's when we hit him with the Blumenfeld, sacrificing a pawn to set up a strong pawn-centre and attacking chances. Aveskulov examines all of White's options and move-orders after 1 d4 Nf6, and shows an aggressive reply to each of them. He is never willing to take existing theory on faith, and throughout the book presents an extraordinary wealth of new analysis and ideas. He also explains typical plans in depth, so you will always know how to turn the screw once you have your opponent on the run.

Your opponent plays a gambit against you. How dare they!? But how can you punish them? Spanish Grandmaster Salgado has taken a close look at a wide variety of 'Gambit Lines'. Many gambit lines, where one or more pawns are sacrificed for the initiative, have to be taken seriously, but Ivan has succeeded in finding many new ideas and theoretical improvements. The result is the neutralisation or refutation of most of these common and well known 'Gambits'. This book is simply a must for anyone who wants to be fully prepared to engage in battle against a 'Gambit Player'. If you are a gambit player yourself, you need to read this to prepare yourself for new challenges to your systems.

This is no ordinary opening book. This practical guide describes only such openings in which White or Black sacrifices material at an early stage of the game. They are called gambits (in Old Italian, gambetto means tripping). The justification for such sacrifices can differ quite a lot. In most cases, the side that sacrifices material tends to get ahead of the opponent in development and/or opens lines to attack the enemy king. However, there are also gambits aimed at the occupation of the center (Blumenfeld Gambit), depriving the opponent of castling (Cochrane Gambit or Traxler Variation), weakening the opponent’s pawn structure (Anti-Moscow Variation), luring an opponent’s piece to an unfavorable position (sacrificing the b2-pawn), obtaining a certain positional compensation (Volga Gambit), etc. Gambits are often associated with the romantic chess of the 19th century. Indeed, that was the heyday of such sharp openings as the King’s Gambit or Evans Gambit, but even nowadays, many games begin with one of the well-known or even innovative gambits. This should come as no surprise: gambits help to reveal the true essence of chess, “the triumph of spirit over matter.” The concept of this book is to examine practical games and give theoretical insights in the notes rather than in stand-alone articles. Practice has shown this to be the most effective way of mastering new material. More often than not, recent games by the world’s top players have been chosen as an illustration, played in the last few years in particular. However, the most important classic games are mentioned as well. The present book analyzes almost 50 of the major gambit lines and systems. Almost 140 games are given in full, with many game fragments selected to illustrate the important deviations. And there is a special section about types of sacrificial themes, such as sacrificing the b2-pawn, sacrificing on f7, etc. Readers who may wish to employ one of the examined gambit variations on a regular basis should, no doubt, study the specific books on that very opening, although in most cases the lines and ideas given are sufficient for a beginner or club player to include the system in his or her opening repertoire and give it a try.

The Alterman Gambit Guide: White Gambits is both an opening book and an instructive manual. Sharpen your tactics and learn to play dynamic attacking chess while studying the most entertaining gambits. Lines covered include: Evans Gambit Panov Attack Morra Gambit Philidor Danish Gambit Urusov Gambit Morphy Attack Cochrane Gambit Max Lange Attack Fried Liver Attack Milner-Barry Gambit Boris Alterman is a strong grandmaster and founder of the Shevah-Mofet Chess Academy in Israel. Alterman is a product of the Botvinnik-Kasparov chess school. He helped to develop the Deep Junior program which famously drew a match with Kasparov and defeated both Radjabov and Deep Fritz.

The Benko Gambit is the ideal way to fight and seize the initiative for Black. Grandmaster Perunovic revisited all the modern lines and provided unbiased coverage of the more recent ideas, the most important being the delay of the recapture on a6. He found and tested in practical play, many new but still typical Benko manoeuvres. If you wanna surprise the 1.d4 player, this book and opening is the perfect tool!