“What is the object of playing a gambit opening…? To acquire a reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing a game.”
The Queen’s Gambit series
If you do a Google search for the Queen’s Gambit opening, you find out it is one of the oldest known chess openings. It was first mentioned in the Gottingen manuscript from 1490. I hope you find such information as interesting as I do. It definitely adds value to any conversation about the Netflix series. Of course such an old opening has an overwhelming amount of information published either online or in books. A good rule to remember is making sure any older information you stumble upon, has not been refuted.
The first game comes from the Master tournament in Breslau 1889. Since I did not know who Mr. Fritz was, it is a surprise for me to learn he was considered a strong master. I am not sure if you knew about it. If you did not, it could be an interesting one to use on your unsuspecting opponents.
The second and third game cover the line with 5. Nbd2 that I have never tried in my games. The general consensus is that it is a boring line leading to a draw. The game below is a quick draw by GM Karpov, something you do not see very often in his games. The other game shows quite a bit of fighting spirit for both players; nevertheless the result is still a draw. If you are curious, you could search for games won in this line by any side. It could be interesting to see if the wins came as a result of the opening played or of mistakes.
Eugen Demian
