The Blackburne-Hartlaub-Gambit

totally agreed...

iam not one of these gambit players who say, unsound gambits are the ultimate weapon and the holy grail...but all of these anti-gambit-players here cant show a single critical line, although they say its so easily to refute...funny 

I wouldnt label some as "anti-gambit" players.  Maybe call them "questionable" opening players.  You can say anything is playable, but to what extent?  As far as refuting them?  I think its been shown that they can be refuted with proper play.  And then it becomes hope chess, which i prefer not to play.

take a look at my games...and then tell me again, that its unplayable...

f.e. ive played more than 100 OTB and correspondence chess games with the so called refuted Latvian...only two players found a forced line which gave them an advantage. Surely i lost more than these two games, but the others i have lost because of bad playing and blunders, not because of choosing this gambit.

Believe what you want, i dont force you to play it...stick with your chess, ill stick with mine.

DF....I just read ur page & I absolutely love this playing style. It truly brings fun to chess 4me2.

Also, when I'm up against 1. e4....I play d5. If accepted, then I play Nf6....& that starts things too.

Thanks mate...good to see, that i dont have to fight on my own :D

I never said "dont play the Ruy Lopez or the QGD or you will be doomed"

Amateur Chess is about having fun, i have a good job and dont have to earn my money with chess...so what? :-)

The ruy can get crazy tactical...

Dark_falcon, you still have not refuted my refutation

7.Bd3 is one of plenty moves for White in this position...but i dont think its the strongest one, but your 8th move is really near to a blunder.

It is pretty astonishing seeing someone play stuff like the Soller Gambit above the 2000 level in correspondence and win convincingly with it. Doesn't even seem to be holding him back.

I play a lot of gambits as well, though I don't have the same philosophy as Dark_Falcon. I do want to improve to some kind of master level and I'm using gambit openings partly as tools to practice tactics. (Though ironically he's the one who's improved faster with his pull-no-punches style). I used to play defensive openings for many years and felt like I was stagnating around ~1700. Switching my style improved my chess all around and I finally made real gains. I've run into the occasional sourpuss who's given me a lot of flack for my openings, but it's worth it. Ultimately I just want to play good chess. If breaking a few rules gets me closer to that goal, then so be it.

I wouldn't dare touch stuff like the Englund. For me, if my engine cannot find sufficient resources to draw and also still have counterplay in the critical lines I won't play it. But there are plenty gambits that seem to satisfy that--even ones with very poor reputations among the top brass.

This is wander yonder off topic....but I like to play hellasharp games w/out the concern to just win. I've found in 5 minute chess that there's a clear winner by somewhere in the middle game so being a footie soldier or two down is like....whatever. Where I snap is when my opposite trades down down down or dissipates for simple sake....yuk !

I sense players wanna stay in their comfort zone. I strongly advise ?....no. Play unbridled wild, 4get about winning, throw theory out w/ the bathwater & see where ur creativity takes you !........and that's why I like Dark Bird's philosophy.

....and Dark Falcon ?....I'm gonna rename this Black Bird's Heartthrob Gambit 'cuz you luv it ! 

IM prfen wrote: "Brilliant opening strategy: You suckrifice a couple of pieces in the opening, so there is no chance to blunder them later..."

I know somebody who sacrifices in the opening a lot - and unsoundly. Here is an example:

Well said!

i like to accept and then play g3 and I think it is correct

Sorry mate, wrong white pawn...the Blackburne-Hartlaub is 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 d6...youve showed the Froms gambit... :-) greetings!

This is certainly better than the garbage line with Qe7 where black tries to play Qb4+ after Bf4 and hope for Bd2 Qxb2 Bc3, when Bb4 wins immediately.

I agree...both, the Soller with 2...f6 and the Blackburne-Hartlaub with the more quiet 2...d6 are better in practical chess (OTB and blitz) than the mainlines with Nc6 and Qe7, cause in this lines black remains passive, when white knows what to do.

In the sidelines with 2...f6 and 2...d6 you can get good counterplay, when White doesnt play straight forward.

This doesnt means,that the side lines of the Englund are sound openings...but no risk, no fun.

If you are afraid of being a pawn down or if you prefer to go for a minor attack on the queenside or pounding on an isolated pawn, then you better stay with the queens gambit declined.