Danish Gambit

this opening, once deemed among the most formidable weapons at WHITE's disposal, is now virtually obsolete among masters. the reason is that perhaps of the remarkable advances that have been achieved in the art of defensive play. so, let's discuss about it..

The opening is still dangerous at most levels. In the declined lines (with ...d5) the better player should win as there is an imbalanced pawn structure and the endgame is tough to play.

For further proof look at the Danish thematic tournament--usually the stronger player wins whether he is white or black.

Openings give you a playable middlegame. They rarely determine the result of a game unless there is a blunder.

I play the Danish all the time. I even had the pleasure of playing it against a FM on live chess and while I lost the opening was not to blame.

I have not played the danish gambit here but have done very well playing the goring gambit, I havent lost as white here in the goring.

Reb, have you used it successfully OTB?

 Not in fide rated classic games Oz. I do play it in some rapid events and blitz otb though and do ok with it but certainly nothing like here. Ofcourse , I am not allowed to use my books or data base in otb games....

So maybe after learning it better here, you'll do better in the rapid games. Chess.com at work!

When was that? I thought that even in the 19th century, they preferred other stuff (King's Gambit, Scotch Gambit, etc).

Has the Danish ever been considered a great opening?

In the Danish Gambit the resulting endgame while theoretically even are tough to play for both sides and offer chances for the better player. For 2400 and above this is not what they are looking for.

The Goring has one or two lines where I think White has some problems but it is a tough opening. I drew a GM in tournament play with the Goring so it is fine for most players.