Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: Mastering a new opening
Early this month it came to my attention that an adult improver chess class was being offered by the Jerusalem Chess Club, every Sunday from 20:00 to 21:30. Despite having missed the first class, I decided to enroll for a month after which I would assess if it is a worthy investment of my time and money. Last Sunday's theme was the cross-pin, which was a novel concept for me; and yesterday course instructor Alon Cohen introduced us to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: 1.d4 d5 and 2.e4 . T. D. Harding, in his 1979 Colle, London and Blackmar Diemer Systems , describes the Blackmar-Diemer as objectively dubious. Christoph Scheerer, in the preface to his 2011 The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit , highlights the gambit's historically polarizing nature. In reply to my question as to why the gambit isn't played at top-level tournaments, Alon Cohen conceded that the gambit has a reputation for being unsound but insisted that theory he has pioneered challenges that classification. Lending supp...