Openings for Tactical Players: Budapest Gambit
The Budapest Gambit is a rare case of a gambit which is popular amongst both amateurs and top professionals. Amateurs and club players really like the variety of opening traps there. Here is one of the most popular traps. Even though it is very well known, it still keeps claiming new victims. (Please remember that you can always replay the whole game from the first move if you click "Solution" and then "Move list").
The Budapest gambit's appeal to top GMs can be explained by the next story. GM Milan Vidmar was supposed to play Black against legendary Akiba Rubinstein in the first round of a big international tournament. He was at a loss what to play against the "great Akiba", who was feared for his dry, positional style of play. To beat Rubinstein with the Black pieces was almost an impossible task. Vidmar asked his friend Istvan Abonyi for advice. Abonyi, the developer of the Budapest Gambit, showed his invention and recommended to give it a try. The next day Vidmar managed to beat Rubinstein in less than 25 moves!! He was so inspired by this win, that he went on to win the whole tournament, and so the official life of the Budapest Gambit started. Here is the game:
The Budapest Gambit has many tricky variations and traps, so if you decide to include it in your opening repertoire, you need to do some research. Today I want to show one venomous idea which is very dangerous even when your opponent knows what to do. But against the players who never saw it before, this line scores close to 100%! I am talking about the tricky line in the main variation of the Budapest gambit, where Black plays a7-a5 and then lifts his Rook to a6 and then to h6. Coupled with a potential Qh4 move Black attacks becomes very dangerous. See how then young Vladimir Kramnik annihilated his opponent:
Do you like the idea? Ok, here is a quizz to test your attacking skills in the Budapest Gambit:
The Budapest Gambit is a very dangerous weapon, so if you like to attack, you can include it in your opening repertoire, or at least give it a try in one of your games and see if your opponent can withstand the assault.
Good luck!
