Müller-Schulze Gambit
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The Müller-Schulze Gambit, also known as the Halloween Attack or Halloween Gambit, is an aggressive but dubious gambit in chess, in which White sacrifices a knight for just one pawn. The theoretician Oskar Cordel reported in 1888 that Leipzig club players used it to dangerous effect but he didn't believe it was sound. Their name for it, Gambit Müller und Schulze, was not after any players by those names; rather, it is a German jocular equivalent of "Smith and Jones" or "Tom, Dick and Harry".[1] It is a branch of the normally staid Four Knights Game. The opening sequence is (see algebraic chess notation)
- 1.e4 e5
- 2.Nf3 Nc6
- 3.Nc3 Nf6
- 4.Nxe5?!
The goal of the gambit is to seize the center with pawns and drive back Black's knights. After 4...Nxe5, White usually plays 5.d4, in preference to 5.f4, which does not facilitate his development.
After 5.d4 the black knight can retreat to g6 or c6. If 5...Ng6, White chases the knight on f6 with 6.e5. After 6...Ng8 7.Bc4, Euwe recommended 7...d5 8.Bxd5 c6. Fritz 8 plays this line, and after 9.Bb3 plays 9...Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Qg4 N8e7 12.Bg5 h5, and now 13.Qxe6 Qxd4 or 13.Qe4 Qb6 14.0-0-0 Nf5 15.h3 Be7 16.Be3 0-0-0 17.g4 Nxe3 18.fxe3 Nh4.
If 5...Nc6, White plays 6.d5, and if 6...Ne5, 7.f4. After 7...Ng6, the game usually continues 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6, completing the most commonly seen sequence in this opening. In the final position White is on the attack and will generally continue that with tactics such as Nb5 after a pawn trade at d6. However, Black can return the piece with a slightly better endgame after making White over-extend his pawns by 5... Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Neg4 8.e5 Bc5 9.exf6 Qxf6 and now White's best is heading for an uninspiring endgame by 10.Qe2+ Qe7 11.Qxe7 Kxe7.
International Master Larry Kaufman, in his 2004 book The Chess Advantage in Black and White (p. 328), says that the Müller-Schulze Gambit is refuted by 4...Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Bb4! 7.dxc6 Nxe4 8.Qd4 Qe7, which he attributes to Jan Pinski. However, more practice shows that it is not so simple, since 9. Be3 has scored well, although 9...Nxc3 (and if 10.bxc3, Bd6! 11.Qg7? Be5 -+) seems a good reply.[2]
A similar gambit can be used by Black: after 4.g3, Black can play 4...Nxe4!? This line is arguably sounder than its White counterpart because 4.g3 weakened the f3 square. Moreover, White cannot play the line recommended by Kaufman with colors reversed because 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 d4 7.Bb5? dxc3 8.Nxe5? Qd5 9.Qe2? loses to 9...Qxh1+. However, with the pawn on g3, Nh4 is possible and it should be easier to castle.[3]
[edit] Illustrative games
The following speed chess games show what can befall an unprepared player of the Black pieces:
Brause-N.N., German Internet Chess Server 1997 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 8.Qf3 f6 9.O-O d5 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 N8e7? 12.Qxf6!! gxf6? 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Bh6#
Brause-N.N., Internet Chess Club 1997 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Nb8 7.e5 Ng8 8.d6 Nc6 9.Nb5 cxd6 10.exd6 Bxd6? (10...Qf6) 11.Qxd6 Qe7+ 12.Be3 Qxd6 13.Nxd6+ Kf8 14.Bc4 Ne5 15.Bb3 Ne7 16.O-O-O f6 17.f4 Ng4 18.Rhe1 (threatening 19.Bc5 and 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Rxd7) 1-0
This game, played in a Halloween gambit thematic tournament, won the prize for the most spectacular game won by White:
Torrecillas (2389)-Keiser (1932) e-mail, 2003 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Bb4 8.Qf3 f6 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 d5 11.exd6 cxd6 12.Ba3 N8e7 13.Rfe1 Qc7 14.Bb3 Kd8 15.c4 Bd7 16.Rad1 Qc6 17.Qc3 a5 18.d5 Qc7 19.c5 b5 20.Qd2 b4 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Bb2 a4 23.Bc4 Ke8 24.a3 Ne5 25.Ba2 b3 26.cxb3 axb3 27.Bxb3 Kf7 28.f4 N5g6 29.Re6 Qxf4 30.Qe2 Qb8 31.Ba2 Qa7+ 32.Kh1 Kf8 33.d6 Ng8 34.Qc4 Nh6 35.Bxf6! gxf6 (35...Bxe6 36.Qxe6 gxf6 37.Qxf6+ Nf7 38.d7 mates shortly) 36.Rxf6+ Ke8 (36...Kg7 37.Qc3) 37.Rxg6 hxg6 38.Qc3 Rh7 39.Qf6 Ba4 40.Qxg6+ Nf7 41.Rf1 Bc2 [41...Bc6 42.Bxf7+ Qxf7 (42...Rxf7 43.Qg8+ Kd7 44.Rxf7+) 43.Rxf7 Rxf7 44.Qg8+ Kd7 (44...Rf8 45.Qe6+ Kd8 46.Qe7+ Kc8 47.Qc7#) 45.Qxf7+ Kxd6 46.h4+-] 42.Qxc2 1-0 (annotations from chessville.com
