??? . . . .What is a Gambit?
Calculated Move: A maneuver, stratagem, or ploy, especially one used at an initial stage. Any scheme by which one seeks to gain an advantage. Gambit is well established in the general sense of “maneuver” and in the related sense of “a remark intended to open a conversation,” which usually carries no implication of sacrifice.
Talking Points: A remark made to open or redirect a conversation. Talk intended to start a conversation or make a telling point thereby securing an advantage for the speaker.
Chess: A chess move early in the game in which the player sacrifices minor pieces in order to obtain an advantageous position. A chess opening in which a player risks one or more pieces. Applied to chess openings in Spain in 1561 by Ruy Lopez, who traced it to the Italian word, but the form in Spanish was generally gambito which led to French gambit, which has influenced the English spelling of the word. Broader sense of “opening move meant to gain advantage” is first recorded in Eng. 1855.
There are three general methods in which a gambit can help a player’s position. For a gambit to be sound it will typically have some degree of at least two of the following:
* Gain of Time: the player accepting the gambit must take time to procure the sacrificed material and possibly must use more time to reorganize his pieces after the material is taken.
* Generation of differential activity: Often a player accepting a gambit will decentralize his pieces or pawns and his poorly placed pieces will allow the gambiteer to place his own pieces and pawns on squares that may otherwise have been inaccessible. In addition, bishops and rooks can become more active simply because the loss of pawns often gives rise to open files and diagonals. Former world champion Mikhail Tal, one of the most extraordinary attacking players of the 20th century, once said that he had sacrificed a pawn just because “it was in his way.”
* Generation of positional weaknesses: Finally, accepting a gambit may lead to a compromised pawn structure, holes or other positional deficiencies.
Etymology: Ultimately from Spanish gambito, from Italian gambetto, act of tripping someone up in wrestling, from gamba, leg, from Old Italian; see gambol. Italian gambetto, literally, act of tripping someone, from gamba leg, from Late Latin gamba, camba, from Greek kampE bend; probably akin to Gothic hamfs maimed, Lithuanian kampas corner. [Origin: 1650–60; < F < Sp gambito or It gambetto (akin to OF gambet, jambet), equiv. to gamb(a) leg + -etta -et]