Forums

The Latvian Gambit

Sort:
ah93704559

I have played a few games using this opening and tried a few variations and I have fallen in love. What an opeing. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on this intriguing, tactically rich chess opening.

NimzoRoy

It's unsound. Aside from that there's nothing wrong with it, besides everything. How many GMs have you seen playing it lately in serious games? 

BUT, I used to play it routinely OTB a few decades ago vs 1.e4 with very good results, in fact I went from USCF class-B to class-A with that and another barely sound opening - the Budapest Defense vs. 1.d4. You can probably get away with the Latvian OTB until you run into someone who knows just one of several very good lines vs it (that you don't) and disillusionment might start to settle in, but maybe not. 

If you plan on playing it routinely this is one opening you should seriously considering purchasing a book about

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=latvian+gambit

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kaiss44.pdf

http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Openings/elburgc40.pdf

Fear_ItseIf

if you like the positions you get from it, but are unsure about using an unsound opening you may drop in the long term, theres always the jaenisch/schliemann defence in the ruy lopez which is quite sound.

although you would need to deal with the vienna, italian and a few others.

TheGreatOogieBoogie

Speaking of the Budapest and Latvian Gambits, those should be the first openings you study (well, if you play 1.e4 then Damiano refutation first), especially the Budapest for 1.d4 players as it's a tricky opening, but that's for another forum topic entirely. 

Schiller recommends 3.exf5 vs. the Latvian gambit, and he said that it's hard to refute over the board, so in other words it's good to study the opening from the white side just in case.