FreeRepublic wrote on 09/20/17 at 23:27:04:
players of the white pieces might distrust being two pawns down!
Those players should not play gambits anyway.
7....dxc3 8.Qb3 Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Nxc3 Nge7 11. Ba3 O-O 12. Rad1 Bb6.
FreeRepublic wrote on 09/20/17 at 23:27:04:
but where is the advantage?
Believe it or not, but even in such positions positional considerations are important. Black's last move does nothing to improve his/her position; it only introduces a simple threat. White must meet it and at the same time build op his/her attack. So Bd3, Rfe1, Ne4 and Re4 are logical for the next few moves. Then White's positional advantage is clear as Black is playing without Ra8 and Bc8. Moreover Black has two concrete weaknesses: pawn h7 and the placement of the queen, who might get shut in.
To prove an advantage for White in all lines might require two pages, but in several lines it seems like Black's best bet is give back a pawn with ...d6 and ...d5 after which activity will be at least enough to compensate. Sample lines: 13.Bd3 Qh6 14.Ne4 d6 15.exd6 cxd6 16.Nxd6 and 13.Rfe1 Na5 14.Qa4 Nxc4 15.Qxc4 Re8 (Qc6) 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.Nd5, so even Black's threat is not frightening.
I can perfectly understand why everyone prefers 7...Nge7. Since the silicon revolution not only defensive methods but also attacking methods have been improved. 7...dxc3 is simply way too risky. A sure sign is that last 10 years or so no strong corr. player (say ELO 2200+) has tried it as Black.
Rodriguez,K (2370) - Hall,T (2052)
VWC5/pr15 ICCF, 01.09.2012
1-0
Blaszczak,J (2204) - Geryk,M (2126)
CT21/pr70 ICCF, 01.10.2015
1-0
To make things worse there is also this:
Uusitalo,J (2331) - Salonen,J (2164)
FIN/C66 (FIN) ICCF, 10.04.2015
1-0
Attacking players can handle chess engines too.