It must not be supposed that a sufficient knowledge of this opening can be acquired by mere reading. It must be practised over and over again, till the student has thoroughly conquered the secret of its strength, and the best mode of defence to its attack. THE MUZIO GAMBIT. 66 This opening is a variation of the well-known King's Gambit, and turns upon the sacrifice of a Knight by the first player, in order to obtain à good attacking position. This game takes its name from its inventor, Signor Muzio, who, says Sarratt, in his translation of the treatise of Salvio on the game of Chess (1634), commonly won it of his adversary, Don Geronimo Cascio." This opening has been examined by all the great writers and players of our own and the gone-by times; and the conclusion generally arrived at is, that the first player exercises a wise discretion in making the sacrifice of the Knight, and obtains at least an even game. Indeed, says Walker, "if we could Castle as in Italy, with King at once to corner, the Muzio would be a forced won game for the first player," that is, presuming the first player could oblige his opponent to take the Knight, which he cannot. That one little objection to the Muzio Gambit can never be overcome; nevertheless, if the second player be induced to attack King's Knight with Pawn at the fourth move, he can at best only hope to obtain a drawn game. To test this, we will play a game in which the regular attack is met with the regular defence. Like most "regular" things, it is liable to be controverted. White. 1 P. to K. 4 2 P. to K. B. 4 Black. 1 P. to K. 4 2 P. takes P. This is the regular King's Gambit, which is fol lowed by the usual move 3 K. Kt. to B. 3 of the Knight: 3 P. to K. Kt. 4 and attacks the White Knight. Now, instead of going back to his square or moving to Queen's 4th, White Knight remains to be taken by the Pawn. White therefore 5 Castles, and offers the Knight as a sacrifice, which Black accepts, and so the Muzio Gambit is rendered complete. 6 Q. takes P. 5 P. takes Kt. As a further exemplification of this opening, we present our readers with the moves of a game between Mr. Staunton and Mr. Reeves, in which the former makes a variation in the attack. Instead of Castling at his fifth move, the first player advances his Queen's Pawn two squares, and Castles at his seventh move. White. (Mr. S.) 1 P. to K. 4 3 K. Kt. to B 3 4 K. B. to Q. B. 4 Black (Mr. R.) 1 P. to K. 4 2 P. takes P. 3 P. to K. Kt. 3. 4 K. Kt. P. advances! 1 The advance of the Pawn at this position of the game appears to be the best thing Black can do; but in the opinion of many players, that advance renders it a lost game for the second player. 2 Mr. Lewis, referring to this deviation from the usual way of playing the Muzio Gambit, says—“The idea of this move occurred to me as far back as 1817; and I then mentioned it to Sarratt, and afterwards examined it with Mr. Brand, who concurred with me in opinion that the best defence against it was playing Queen's Pawn two squares also." This move is not, however, the sole property of Mr. Lewis, for it is adverted to (as quoted by Mr. Staunton in the Chess Player's Chronicle) in an "Analysis of the Muzio Gambit," published at Madras about the same time. It has since been examined by Von Der Lasa, Jaenisch, G. Walker, and others, and the general conclusion arrived at is, that it is inferior to Castling. In Mr. Walker's Art of Chess-Play, he shows that the second player has a good defence, if the first neglects to Castle at his fifth move; but "White Castling at move five, Black must be content, at best, with a drawn game. It would seem, then, that the Muzio Gambit is a good and safe game for the first player. Well, so it is, only it is open to this little objection-that its acceptance cannot be forced upon the second player. 3 I venture to differ from Mr. Lewis in thinking this the best move for the Black. Having the Knight, Black may as well secure all the advantages of his attack. If, in answer to the advance of the Queen's Pawn, he had also moved Queen's Pawn two squares, White would take Pawn with King's Bishop, and then make good his retreat. 4 Better play than defending the Pawn with the Queen on King's Bishop third, from which square she may, and undoubtedly would, be driven by the advance of White's King's Pawn. 5 White's attack is now very strong, for he must White. 8 B. takes Q. P. 9 B. takes K.B. P. (ch.) 14 Q. Kt. to K. 48 14 K. to Kt. sq. THE SCOTCH GAMBIT. This opening received its present name from the fact that it was greatly practised in the correspondence match between the London and defend the isolated Pawn or lose the game in a few moves. 6 This would appear a needless sacrifice on the part of the Black of a good working piece; but if he had not done this, he would have lost his Queen or Bishop at the next move, by White moving Bishop, and discovering check. 7 Not the best move. 8 Threatening to give check next move. Black sees that, and moves his King. 9 Of course White could have taken the Knight with, either Queen or Rook. Edinburgh Clubs some years ago. It is also` known as the Queen's Pawn Two Opening, and the Central Gambit. But by whatever name it is called, the player who adopts it obtains a fine. raking attack; and it has this further advantage, that even should it fail, no particular damage is done to the first player. It will be seen that this opening is but a variation of the Giuoco Piano, and that it results in a perfectly even game. The moves are White. 1 P. to K. 4 2 K. Kt. to B. 3 Black. 1 P. to K. 4 This third move of the first player gives the name to the opening, and constitutes the gambit. It is the opinion of most writers that the second player must take the pawn or consent to a very bad position. Now, just look over the board; if Black refuses to take the Pawn, White pushes it forward and attacks the Knight, besides obtaining a capital place in the centre of the board. Even as the pieces stand before Black makes his second move, White has a fair open field before him, with a range for both Bishops. Of course Black (the second player) may either take the Pawn with Knight or Pawn. The best play is to take Pawn with Pawn 4 K. B. to Q. B. 4 3 P. takes P. This is considered better play than taking Pawn with Knight, which would probably lead to a change of pieces, which is needless in all cases where no advantage is obtained. The next |