In modern chess top players don't hesitate to grab the opponent by the throat right from the start. Labels as immortal game or evergreen are again used to express our amazement for those brilliant contemporary games. Finally we experience again the atmosphere of the romantic 19th century. The origin of the evergreen can be found in the game Adolf Andersson - Jean Dufrese played in 1852.
Many decades the Evansgambit was one of the most popular openings but this popularity declined once Lasker found a good anti-dote largely removing the sting out of the attack. This anti-dote is even today still approved and played by the leading players as we saw end of last year in the London Classic.
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4d6(Laskers defense. Black counter-sacrifices immediately a pawn to achieve a comfortable position.)7.Qb3Qd78.dxe5Bb69.a4(A new move for standardchess but known from correspondencechess. There exists a game from 2011 in which a4 was played successfully by the Belgium IM in correspondence chess Dirk Ghysens.)Na510.Qa2Nxc411.Qxc4Ne712.exd6cxd613.0-00-014.Qd3Ng615.a5Bc516.Be3Re817.Nbd2Bxe318.Qxe3d519.Rfe1dxe420.Nxe4Qe721.Nd6Qxe322.fxe3Rd823.Red1Rb824.Rd4Be625.c4b626.axb6axb627.Ra7h628.h3Ra829.Rb7Rdb830.Rc7Ra531.Kh2Rc532.Ra7Kf833.g4Ra534.Rc7Rc535.Ra7Ra536.Rc7½–½
Just like many other gambits from the romantic era it wasn't only the anti-dote which caused the decline. More and more playable setups were found for black which made white vulnerable for dangerous preparations. I like to play a setup with 6...exd4 instead of 6...d6 as shown in the game below from the passed Open Gent.
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4exd47.Qb3(I already twice fought successfully against 0-0 in standardgames. I knew Qb3 was Shorts try to resurrect this line. It is pretty annoying to play this line without preparation.)Qe78.0-0Bb69.Ba3?!(The pairings of the first round were announced a few minutes before the start so my opponent neither was fully up to date of the latest theory. Here cxd4 and the rather unknown Re1 give better compensation.)9.Re1!?Na510.Qa4Nxc411.Qxc4Qe612.Qd3Ne713.cxd40-09.cxd4!?Nxd410.Nxd4Bxd411.Nc3Nf612.Ba3!?d613.Rad1Bxc314.Qxc3Qe59...d610.e5?!(Too aggressive. Cxd4 gives better counterplay.)10.cxd4!Na511.Qa4+!?Bd712.Qc2!?Nxc413.Qxc410...Na511.Qd1Nxc412.Qa4+Qd713.Qxc4d514.Qb4?!(White provokes c5 but this only helps black. Qb3 or Qe2 are stronger.)c515.Qb3d316.c4d4??(I try to consolidate the position with this pawn-sacrifice. After all I am 2 pawns up but I miss an important detail. The sharp dxc4 was much stronger and should be leading to a won position if followed up by some accurate moves.)17.Qxd3?(Too greedy. Only at move 19 white discovers there are juicy squares for the queens-knight to achieve with Nbd2. Unfortunately then it will be too late.)17.Nbd2!Ne718.Ne40-019.Nxc5Bxc520.Bxc5b621.Bd6!Bb722.Qxd3∞17...Qf518.Qd1Ne719.Nbd2Bd720.Re1Bc621.Rb1?!(A more stubborn defense is Nh4.) 21.Nh4!Qd322.Nb3Qxd123.Raxd1g524.Nf3Bxf325.gxf3Rc826.Bc1Kd721...Ng622.Qe20-023.Rb3Rfe824.Ne4Nf40–1
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4exd47.Qb3Qe78.0-0Bb69.cxd4Nxd410.Nxd4Bxd411.Nc3Nf612.Nb5(Nigel Short tried to revive this critical line in 2003 with this move.)Bxa1 (I believed till shortly that d5 was the only playable continuation in this position of which the final evaluation is a draw after accurate play from both sides. I remember from the local clash between Stefan Docx and Steven Geirnaert played in 2011 at Brasschaat this draw is not straightforward. Today however it appears that taking the rook is even better at the condition that you have the calculation skills of todays strongest engines.)13.Nxc7+Kd814.Nxa8Bd4(I found 6 correspondencegames in my database of which 5 were won by black.)15.Be3 (Bf4 was recently once tried in a standardgame between lower rated players but after d6 black has an edge.)Qc516.Bxd4Qxd417.Bd5Nxd5(3 times this move was already played in correspondencechess and each time black won. This game is the oldest one. Nxe4 was also once tested but is clearly inferior as it did not bring a happy end.)18.exd5d619.Qg3Qxd520.Qxg7Qe521.Qxf7Bd722.h3Qf523.Qc4Qc524.Qf7Kc825.Rd1Re826.Qxh7d527.Qd3Qd628.h4Kb829.Qg3Qxg330.fxg3Be60–1
No I don't believe romantic chess will popularize again. It makes no sense to sacrifice material while the opponent can play an exact sequence of moves vaporizing the compensation. It is pity but don't cry as Anand stated: for every door the computers closed they have opened a new one.
Further I also want to point out that many gambits despite their theoretical status are still a dangerous practical weapon especially with the faster timecontrols. We are no computers so using the Evansgambit in the right circumstances (opponent/ tempo/ preparation) can still bring success. Finally I also agree with coaches trying to convince their students to try out for some time gambits. Romantic chess is an excellent school to learn abstract concepts like development and initiative. These are basic concepts which should be mastered first before studying more complex strategies discovered after the romantic era.
Brabo
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