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What well known gambits are unsound?


  • 11 months ago · Quote · #1

    ponz111

    I will give this a start:

    1. Latvian Gambit  1. e4  e5  2. Nf3  f5

    2. Albin Counter Gambit  1. d4  d5  2. c4  e5

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #2

    chessgdt

    Does the jerome gambit count?

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #3

    chessgdt

    and what about the halloween gambit?

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #4

    LavaRook

    Englund Gambit

    Elephant Gambit

    Wing Gambit

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #5

    ponz111

    Must be well known gambitss and I know "well known" is a matter of opinion.

    This leaves out making it rain and Scot baio and I am not sure about Jerome or Halloween.

    On others mentioned  Kings Gambit is sound  Wing Gambit is probably unsound 

    elephant gambit unsound--smith morra probably unsound Englund gambit no opinion.

     

    Suggestion when gambit mentioned give the first moves--such as what are moves for jerome gambit and halloween?

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #6

    BirdBrain

    Jerome Gambit:

    Halloween Gambit:




  • 11 months ago · Quote · #7

    SquareDealer

    Throw this in there: an old chess adage says no position is bad unless the opponent can take advantage of it. So an unsound gambit at certain higher levels of play can be a sharp weapon lower down. So on the one hand we might all like to play 'sound' chess, on the other hand there's the fun of the game - and winning however you can.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #8

    BirdBrain

    I think he was mentioning in general.  But it is true - a BDG at 1100 rating is probably plenty good.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #9

    ponz111

    Yes, an unsound gambit can be a good weapon at lower levels of play but I am interested in which gambits are sound at the highest levels of play.

    I am guessing the Jerome Gambit and the Halloween Gambit are unsound.

    Since I have been a correspondence player most of my life--where each side may have days to make or consider one move--you will not see many unsound gambits in higher level correspondence chess.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #10

    SquareDealer

    ponz111 wrote:

    Yes, an unsound gambit can be a good weapon at lower levels of play but I am interested in which gambits are sound at the highest levels of play.

    I am guessing the Jerome Gambit and the Halloween Gambit are unsound.

    Since I have been a correspondence player most of my life--where each side may have days to make or consider one move--you will not see many unsound gambits in higher level correspondence chess.

    Yes, I considered that such might be the case. But I wanted to throw my post in there because I thought it would be a worthwhile point to make in a discussion of gambits, and sound and unsound that is viewed by many levels of player (like lowly me).

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #11

    Estragon

    You don't see gambits played so often by very strong players because sound or not, most players they face are also strong and experienced enough to know how to face them.  At higher levels, you will far more often see pawn sacrifices in the early middle game, because these are original and the opponent will likely be surprised. 

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #12

    shepi13

    ponz111 wrote:

    Must be well known gambitss and I know "well known" is a matter of opinion.

    This leaves out making it rain and Scot baio and I am not sure about Jerome or Halloween.

    On others mentioned  Kings Gambit is sound  Wing Gambit is probably unsound 

    elephant gambit unsound--smith morra probably unsound Englund gambit no opinion.

     

    Suggestion when gambit mentioned give the first moves--such as what are moves for jerome gambit and halloween?

    You consider the smith morra worse than the englund? That's surprising, personally I think the smith morra is sound but gives black a good game, while I can't see why anyone would play the englund.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #13

    ponz111

    And when you see pawn sac's in the early middle game--it is too late to call them "gambits" [i think]

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #14

    ponz111

    Anyone have what they regard as refutations against some of these gambits?

    By "refutations" I do not mean equalizing lines--I mean lines where the defense to the gambit has very good winning chances.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #15

    finalunpurez

    Why is albin counter gambit unsound?

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #16

    ponz111

    Well yes the word "gambit" does have more than one meaning. I am trying to use the meaning as a sacrifice of material in the opening of a game.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #17

    ponz111

    Albin Counter Gambit

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #18

    adina09

    Na5 f attacked c6

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #19

    shepi13

    6. Qa4 is hardly ever played. More common is 6. Nbd2.

    In chess.com's database Ng5 is never played, the only move out of 2 games is 0-0. Neither is that position reached in shredders database. Or chesstempo's. Even in chess365's big database including non-master games Ng5 is never played. I don't see how a line that is rarely if ever played could possibly be shown to refute an opening. It needs to be tested OTB before it can be claimed that the albin is unsound.

     

    Black also has at least 2 other tries, 5... Nge7 and 5...Bg4. To claim the albin is unsound these need to be refuted as well.

     

    Personally, I think the albin is dubious but not unsound, and it would take hundreds of pages of analysis to refute (if it is in fact refutable), not one puzzle.

  • 11 months ago · Quote · #20

    ponz111

    shep because a move is rarely played does not mean it is a bad move.

    This move was played vs a highly rated team of players-the top player of that team is now a correspondence grandmaster. This was a team match where the players of the

    black pieces spent thousands of hours on this game. Because it does not happen to be listed on chess com means little.

    the game was viewed internationally move by move for over a year.

    Really, just because you have never seen a move or that a move is not published does not mean it is a bad move and in this case it is the best move.


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