Gambiteer I - Nigel Davies

This repertoire book is for the club player who wants danger and excitement in their games against other club players. Davies notes that at club level the more active player wins, a pawn or several pawns is rarely decisive, nobody knows much theory, and when faced with aggressive play the usual reaction is to cower. So his repertoire is bursting to the seams with gambits but played in a modern up-to-date way.

Nigel Davies has a strong track record of coaching club players, and he injects a healthy dose of swashbuckling play that appeals to players wanting to avoid the grinding play typically seen at their level. But the gambits he recommends have been used by the elite players, and have been forged against battles with masters far stronger than club players.

The format of the book is a chapter per opening system. Each chapter starts with an introduction of the repertoire line, discussing how the opening has developed and points out the current critical lines that need to be explored, studied or mastered. The bulk of the chapter is a series of well-annotated games covering the major variations of the recommended opening variation. Each chapter concludes with an opening summary of the key lines covered.

The Danish Gambit

Davies goes in for the Danish Gambit against 1… e5 but with Alekhine’s move order (1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3) to rule out certain Black defences to the Danish Gambit. White is not averse to 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nf3 to reach a Göring Gambit, but also Alekhine shows there’s positional compensation with developing this knight to e2, heading to g3 and the f-pawn is free to advance. In the Danish proper, Davies also covers Capablanca’s recipe of 3… d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. cxd4 Nc6 and recommends the little-explored 6. Be3!? which throws Black on his own resources.

Against the semi-open defences

Against the Sicilian Defence, Davies finds the Wing Gambit as offering genuine positional compensation in the centre for the sacrificed pawn. It’s been used by players like Bronstein, Keres and Marshall, and in simultaneous exhibitions by Alekhine and Capablanca. He defines the mainline as 1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. a3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nf3 e5 6. axb4 Bxb4 where he investigates various Black responds to 7. c3. Davies also investigates the variation 6. Bb2 and 7. c4 popularised in Ukraine as an intriguing alternative. There’s also a wealth of exploration into earlier side-lines, each with a model game.

The Wing Gambit also appears against the French Defence, Davies considering it more respectable than the Sicilian version: White gets a pawn to d4 which will not get undermined, and it’s difficult for the Black king to find safety. After 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4!? cxb4 5. d4 Nc6 6. a3 Davies covers the two main continuations 6… f6 and 6… bxa3. In methods to decline the gambit, Davies looks at 4… b6 (a sensible-looking move), 4… c4 (trying to throw a spanner in the works) and 4… d4 (radical an interesting way to prevent White playing d4), and finally the timid 3… b6 respectfully side-stepping the gambit.

The gambiteer is armed with the Fantasy Variation of the Caro-Kann in Chapter 4, presenting a serious challenge to Black’s attempt to a dry technical struggle. Against 3… e6 Davies recommends the more modern 4. Nc3 (Zvjaginsev’s treatment) aiming to sacrifice the e-pawn and create a double-edged game. Davies covers Black’s main choices of 4… Bb4, 4… Nf6. Against 3… dxe4 4. fxe4 e5 White turns it into a kind of Danish gambit with 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Bc4.

Against the hypermodern openings

There’s no gambit against the Alekhine, but there is the spirit of free and fast development behind the repertoire system of 3. Nc3. After the mainline 1.. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Nc3 Nxc3 4. dxc3 d6 5. Nf3 White deals with the immediate 5… dxe5 with steady pressure right through to the endgame. Against 5… Nc6 its a battle of White’s active pieces versus Black’s better pawn structure. Black has the more solid 4… d5 but less chance of counterplay. Davies also covers newer third move responses 3… Nb6, 3… e6 and 3… c6 with lines offering active pieces and free development.

Chapter 8 faces the Pirc. Obviously, the gambiteer is attracted to the Austrian Attack. But since the variation is heavily analysed, and 5… c5 is holding up theoretically and practically, Davies recommends the little-known 5. a3, designed to take the sting out of 3… c5. In Modern lines where Black holds back … Nf6, Velirimovic smashes the author’s 4… Nc6, Kontronias plays a model game against 4… e6, 4… a6 looks neglectful, and Westerinen has a good antidote to 4… c6.

Tackling the Scandanavian (1. e4 d5) Davies dusts off the ancient Wing gambit against 3… Qa5, but in a slightly delayed form by including 4. Nf3 Nf6. The new move is 6. a4!? which threatens a Ba3 making it difficult for Black to move his e-pawn without losing castling rights. The a4-pawn also controls b5 and can be used as a battering ram if Black castles queenside. If Black goes for 3… Qd6 it seems like typical Scandanavian play.

The Nimzowitsch Defence gets its own chapter, although pointing out that normally 2. Nf3 e5 gets into normal White lines. But with the Danish gambit move-order sees White displace the Black knight on c6 and developing actively in the centre behind the White pawn on d5.

Chapter 9 covers miscellaneous openings. Against 1… d6, or the Pseudo-Philidor as the author puts it, he suggests the plan of Nge2, f2-f3 and g2-g4, with opposite-side castling and dynamic play. Against 1… b6 sees the gambiteer defer Nc3 propping up his e4-pawn with Bd3 instead. And an 11. Bg5 improvement on Karpov - Miles, the famous game that started with 1. e4 a6.

Title

Gambiteer I

ISBN

1857445163

Author(s)

Davies, Nigel

Publisher

Everyman Chess

Year

2007