THE FASCINATING KING’S GAMBIT

Author: Thomas Johansson

Trafford (2004)

215 pages

$35.95

Reviewed by John Watson
 

Thomas Johansson’s repertoire book THE FASCINATING KING’S GAMBIT is published by Trafford, a Print-on-Demand company for self-publishing authors. It’s a little sloppy-looking, but that generally doesn’t bother me in books and it has everything you need to know to play 1.e4 e5 2.f4, assuming that you are happy with the main line 2...exf4 3.Bc4. I’ve personally looked at various whacky ideas like “the Westerinen Gambit” (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.d4!?) and here the critical 5.Bb3 d5 6.exd5 cxd5 7.d4. Of course you have to trust the main lines beginning with 3...Qh4+ 4.Kf1. I believe that the latter poses less threat to White’s ambitions than the former, and both sides have issues to solve in the King’s Gambit Declined (2...Bc5). Johansson’s is another book that a student of mine is absorbed in, and potentially provides you with a way to avoid the near-infinite theory of the Spanish Game.

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