My mainline for white is the scotch gambit.
The theory is so complicated that I have had people resign in completely equal positions, like this one:
Or something like this, he may have played Be7.
The fact that black resigned in that position says more about the player than the theory...
FWIW Bologan recommended 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 with 4.Bc4 g4'!' and 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Bc4 g4'!' (also 5.d4 g4'!' and 5.g3 g4'!?') for Black, but maybe he forgot to check his Psycho-Clown Informators.
(In all honesty, I think it is probably simpler to protect the pawn on g5 in OTB play, but look at games in the Muzio Gambit played by correspondence masters as Black. The statistics are rather dismal for White. I don't know what theory claims White is OK in the Muzio Gambit. All credible sources I've seen suggest accurate play leads to at least -/+ for Black. Strong players have been playing 4...g4 and 5...g4 in various forms against the King's Gambit for ages and modern engine-assisted analysis seems to be upholding Black's cause.)
My mainline for white is the scotch gambit.
The theory is so complicated that I have had people resign in completely equal positions, like this one:
Or something like this, he may have played Be7.
The fact that black resigned in that position says more about the player than the theory...
Resigning in an equal position after 9 moves of theory is totally normal behavior. Gambits force people to make irrational decisions. I once saw a man's head explode against the BDG.
I remember that story very well - it made headlines at the time.
The poor victim's rating was around 1900 - a typically vulnerable rating environment, when one is already quite strong enough to appreciate the complicated nature of the game, but has not yet developed powerful enough mental foundations, which would support and properly channel the tensions which result from contemplating such complexity.
It is in this "in-between" transitional rating stage, between being a complete patzer and a fully fledged strong player, that such accidents are often inevitable - and should be viewed as the cost of trying to improve.
I see that nobody continues this thread - so just to be on the safe side - I was only making a joke in post #82 - and I'm sure that <MetalRatel> was doing the same in #81.
We didn't mean to scare anybody away!
The theory is so complicated that I have had people resign in completely equal positions, like this one:
Or something like this, he may have played Be7.
Each to his own. I have a very good score as Black, but I won't play the line again, as white can effectively force a draw, or an extremely boring position.
I play 5...d6 here but I'm not an IM lol.
The theory is so complicated that I have had people resign in completely equal positions, like this one:
Or something like this, he may have played Be7.
Each to his own. I have a very good score as Black, but I won't play the line again, as white can effectively force a draw, or an extremely boring position.
I totally agree actually. I still appreciate that line, but as I have studied the scotch gambit over the last few months, I am slowly beginning to understand why people say that the scotch gambit leads to a completely equal position and I'm beginning to desire a more solid opening where white actually maintains his opening advantage even with best theory. I don't even think I will stop playing the scotch gambit in blitz though.
I'm starting to develop a poor taste for fast classical style openings where the best move is for everyone to trade off all the pieces and reach a totally try position. A few days ago, for the first time ever, I actually found myself enjoying the black side of a slav- which is a huge surprise for me. The position just seems so much richer when the plans are more complex and the pieces stay on the board.
Nice. I play that line all the time as Black. It's true White can slightly kill the game with somethin like 10.Bg5 Bb4 11.Nxd4 but they will often play very substandard moves such as in the position above 13.Bg5 Bxh2+ or even 13.Qe2 which loses quickly to ...d3! or as per the game above.