The Principles Behind the Gambits

What are gambits and how do these chess openings work? We'll look into a fundamental working definition of gambits and the principles behind them. Players are advised that gambits can occur either on a King Pawn opening or a Queen Pawn opening. We'll go through essential features of gambits and how a gambit can help a player's position on the board.

We can easily tell if an opening is a gambit when clearly the opponent is sacrificing one, and, sometimes, even more, Pawns or in some occasions other pieces or materials on the board. Ruy Lopez de Segura, a Spanish priest, first used the term "gambit" applying it to chess openings. The original expression is from the Italian 'dare il gambetto', which literally means to trip someone by putting forward a leg. Given this sense, a gambit is an opening where the idea is to obtain the advantage over your opponent.

Now, on the question of the features of the many gambits we may encounter along the way as we study different openings, we find that that they have three things in common. Players will most likely find these similarities among gambits that go along with King Pawn openings. The said common features we'll find among gambits are the following:

First, White will usually direct attacks on one of the most vulnerable places on Black's side. In the case of King Pawn openings it would most likely have to be on the KB2 position.

Second, if ever Black would prefer to hang on to material then Black should come to terms with the possibility of a backward development.

Third, the best way for Black to face a gambit is to accept it and take the sacrifice of material offered by White. After taking all the material White has to offer, Black ought to concentrate all efforts on development. One good tip for black at this point would be to play ... P - Q4 as soon as he can. If ever Black would rather decline White's sacrifice of material then Black can at best hope to obtain and maintain an equilibrium and not an advantage.

Moving on to how a gambit helps a player gain a better position, we have the following:

First, gambits help a player gain time in the opening by gaining considerable momentum. Since the player accepting the gambit will be preoccupied with taking material offered, the other can take advantage of the situation and position key pieces on the board.

Second, with the loss of Pawns comes the opportunity to position other pieces (specifically Rooks and Bishops) on places on the board that at times are difficult to obtain.

Third, if the other player accepts the gambit, the other player can take advantage of the opponent's jeopardized pawn structure.

Given all these principles, make sure that all views are considered when playing or countering any gambit.