Wednesday, 7 March 2018

CHESS: THE ELEPHANT GAMBIT

The Elephant Gambit was played against me in one of my blitz games on chess.com. I can't recall how I fared but I remember being surprised and it's certainly a good choice by Black when playing blitz chess. The essential position is shown below:


Here is an interesting video of a game involving this gambit that was played in the middle of the nineteenth century:


There is an interesting collection of games involving the elephant gambit on chessgames.com, all involving wins for Black. Here is the most recent game shown on that site:
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe5 Bd6 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.Bc4 0-0 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bg5 Bf5 10.0-0 h6 11.Bh4 Re8 12.Re1 Rb8 13.a3 Bf4 14.b3 e3 15.f3 Qd6 16.g3 e2 17.Nxe2 Be3+ 18.Kg2 g5 19.g4 Nxg4 20.Bg3 Nf2 21.Bxf2 Bxf2 22.Rf1 Be3 23.Ng3 Bg6 24.c3 c5 25.dxc5 Qxc5 26.Qd5 Rbd8 27.Qxc5 Rd2+ 28.Kh3 Bxc5 29.b4 Bd6 30.Ra2 Rxa2 31.Bxa2 Re3 32.Kg4 Rxc3 33.Bb1 Rxa3 34.Bxg6 fxg6 35.Ne4 Bf4 36.Kh3 Rb3 37.Rf2 Rxb4 38.Nf6+ Kf7 39.Nd5 Rd4 40.Nxf4 Rxf4 41.Kg3 Rb4 42.Rc2 Rb7 43.Rc6 a5 44.Ra6 c5 45.Rxa5 Rc7 46.Kf2 c4 47.Ke2 c3 48.Kd1 c2+ 49.Kc1 Rc3 50.Ra2 h5 51.Rxc2 Rxf3 52.Kd1 Re3 53.Rf2+ Kg7 54.Kd2 Ra3 55.Kc1 g4 0–1
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Alexej Gorbatov2363Pavel Skatchkov24860–1
Certainly an interesting game as well. 365chess.com has a useful analysis of the main variants of this opening:


As the chart shows, 3.exd5 or 3.Nxe5 offer the best chances for White and by clicking on the possibilities in the left-hand column, the common moves in these sub-variants can be explored. For example, 3.exd5 leads to these main variations:


Clearly, Black must proceed with either 3...e4 or 3...Bd6 or else the future looks grim. I like the layout of the 365chess.com website, it's very easy to navigate.

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