Gambit wrote on 04/02/11 at 18:29:59:


This must also be a strong contender for novelty of the year.

Gambit wrote on 04/04/11 at 03:39:19:

He sent me a signed copy. He also sent quite a bit of supplimentary analysis as well

Gambit wrote on 04/04/11 at 03:39:19:

As I said I used to play the 3...Nge7 quite a bit but not as much now.

Gambit wrote on 04/04/11 at 03:39:19:

It is like asking why americans and canadians get on so well? God knows
Hadron.

Gambit wrote on 04/03/11 at 14:13:55:

I will dig out, it is not of the best quality in the world. You have to remember New Zealand is only a smallish country and to get in books and specialist magazines is not cheap and what you can get off the internet only goes so far.  I think all I have on 3...Nge7 is an old photocopy in german given to me by William Williams of the US
Cheers
Hadron 

I have that article, I think it was in CHESS in August 2000.  He mentions 8.Nd5 Ba5 9.Rb5 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 Kd8 11.Qg5+ (which leads only to an unclear position) and 11.e4 h6 "unclear" (the analysis stemmed originally from Grob, who gave the inaccurate continuation 12.h4 b6 13.Bc4 Qf8- White is actually clearly better here after 12.Bc4!, but Black can improve with 11...a6).  That article inspired me to take up the 3...Qe7 line of the Englund Gambit, as it actually looked quite viable theoreticallly before the real strength of 8.Nd5! became known.  Interestingly none of my games in the line got any further than 6...Bb4, when one opponent tried 7.Nd5?!- right idea at wrong time- as after 7...Bxd2+ White has a choice between 8.Nxd2 Nb4 and 8.Kxd2 Kd8, both pretty unclear/equal.

Stefan Bucker's latest article is here:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kaiss48.pdf

I don't find Avrukh's 8.Nd5 Ba5 9.Rb5 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 Kd8 11.Ng5 Nh6 12.f4!? idea (mentioned in Wikipedia) too convincing, and it leads to similar play to the 11.e4 a6 covered in the article.  Instead I favour 9.e4 for White and think that 9...Nge7 10.Rb5 is even more convincing that 10.Bc4 (after 10.Rb5 Black's best is probably the pawn sac 10...Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 0-0 12.Nxc7 Rb8, when Black will probably regain a pawn on a2 or e5, but White is still substantially better).

3...Nge7 4.b3!? seems quite a common response but objectively I don't think it challenges the viability of the system for Black.  Stefan Bucker mentions it in Kaissiber 5, recommending 4...Ng6 5.Bb2 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Ngxe5.

I would like to respond to a few points here concerning the Soller and related gambits.

First, after 1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 f6 4 e4 fxe5  5 Bc4 is horrible for Black. I just checked the chesslive.de database for this line, and White wins the vast absolute majority of the games in this line! However, it must be mentioned that none of the Black players were rated 2000 or higher.  Computer analysis might improve the position for Black. To throw out a few lines:

5...d6 6 Ng5 Nh6 7 Nxh7 Bg4! = ; 5...d6 6 Ng5 00 7 00 g6 8 f4 ef4 9 Rxf4 Ne5 10 Ne6 Bxe6 11 Bxe6 Qe7 = ; 

So what am I missing here?

Second, the Englund Gambit, 3...Qe7. I agree with the evaluation posted here.

Third, the Zilbermints Gambit, 3...Nge7. I don't know why HTH keeps calling it the Stadelman even though current evidence shows no known games of Stadelman's with 3...Nge7. Even though Samuel Leigh Stadelman analysed some lines in Philadelphia Inquirer back in the 1920s or the 1930s (not sure which!) , I have no games of his with 3...Nge7. All known  Stadelman's games started out with 1 e4, not 1 d4.
I am trying to locate more data about Samuel Leigh Stadelman right now. So far, I know more than when Stefan Buecker informed me about him in 1996.

Samuel Leigh Stadelman was born 19 November 1881. Apparently a life-long native of Pennsylvania.
First known chess tournament, 1891. Played in Anglo-American cable matches for the American team, early 1900s. Won the chess championship of Franklin Chess Club in 1907 and 1908. Served in World War I, 1917-1918. Might have served in the reserves in World War II, possibly posted to Canada, circa 1942.
During WW2, many  men aged 18-65 were called into active or reserve army service. Died fl. 1942. Buried in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

I should point out that in all the time I have been researching Stadelman's life, I never came across any of his games with 1 d4 e5 2 dxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 Nge7.
The most that could be said is that he analysed some lines. However, there is a big difference between analysing some lines and practical play!

Finally, the Zilbermints Gambit is Black's best line in the 1 d4 e5 complex.

CraigEvans wrote on 04/02/11 at 09:09:58:

I agree with Craig, the Soller is not the best. I think the Stadelman gambit is about the only thing that makes 1.d4 e5 any where near playable. I used to play it quite a lot over the board until I took the Polish up.
HTH

I played a number of Soller Gambits in OTB tournaments. Will post them here later.