The Irish Gambit, Chicago Gambit, or Razzle Dazzle Gambit is a weak

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , a te ...

that begins: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Nxe5? intending 3...Nxe5 4.d4.

Discussion

White's pawns occupy the , but the sacrifice of a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

for a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an h ...

is a very high price to pay. The gambit is accordingly considered unsound, and is almost never seen in high-level play. It is often referred to as the Chicago Gambit,Hooper & Whyld (1996), pp. 76–77, ''Chicago Gambit''. perhaps because

Harold Meyer Phillips Harold Meyer Phillips (15 December 1874 – 7 January 1967) was an American chess player and chess life organizer. Biography Phillips was a lawyer by profession. In 1903, he won Manhattan Chess Club Championship. He was one of the leading organi ...

, remarkably, used it in an

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a ...

game in a

simultaneous exhibition A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

to beat

Harry Nelson Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 – June 17, 1906) was an American chess player. At the age of 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time (winning the Hastings 1895 chess tournament), but his illness and early death preven ...

, one of the strongest players in the world at the time. An apocryphal tale is told of the anonymous inventor of the gambit. On his deathbed, when asked what subtle idea lay behind the gambit, his last words were reportedly: "I hadn't seen the king's pawn was defended."Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 182, ''Irish Gambit''. A similar line is the

Halloween Gambit The Halloween Gambit (also known as the Müller–Schulze Gambit or Leipzig Gambit) is an aggressive chess opening gambit in which White sacrifices a knight early on for a single pawn. The opening is an offshoot of the normally staid Four Knight ...

, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 It is also considered dubious, but is sounder than the Irish Gambit, because White can gain by chasing both of Black's knights while occupying the center. White has won a number of short games with the Halloween Gambit.

References

Bibliography *{{cite book , last1=Hooper , first1=David , authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper , last2=Whyld , first2=Kenneth , authorlink2=Kenneth Whyld , title=

The Oxford Companion to Chess ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' is a reference book on the game of chess written by David Vincent Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. The book is written in an encyclopedia format. The book belongs to the Oxford Companions series. Details The first ed ...

, publisher=

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, year=1996 , edition=2nd , origyear=First pub. 1992 , isbn=0-19-280049-3 Chess openings 1899 in chess

Discussion

See also

References