Dubious openings
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david_bakerman
Oct 10, 2020
0
#1
Why are some openings never (or hardly) played at top level?
I'm thinking of stuff like King's gambit, Albin countergambit, Latvian gambit, Elephant gambit and the like.
These openings are very tricky. Are GM's afraid to make a combinatorial mistake?
Can some of these openings undeniably be refuted?
Oct 10, 2020
0
#2
You already answered why high level players don't often play them: they are dubious. For example, if a high level player plays something like the King's Gambit or the Budapest Gambit and their opponent knows how to safely navigate the opening (and high level players almost certainly will!), then the initiator will be left playing from a worse position.
But they still have their place of course; they can be used as weapons in lower time controls especially.
btw, my nr.1 choise for white is a dubious opening, the scotch gambit. But at my level 90% of people dont know the right first 10 moves, so i get a lot of succes with it. If i tried on a master, i would get out from opening with serious disadvantage. Thats why masters dont usually go for tricky openings, oponents just know the right answer.