The Scotch Gambit is a brazen yet utterly sound system for White who immediately opens up the position, by sacrificing a central pawn, in an attempt to assassinate the enemy king as quickly as possible.
In this “Learn in 60 Minutes” GM Dejan Bojkov from Bulgaria offers a complete repertoire for White after the moves: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 when all the main moves are covered: 5…Bg4; 5…g6; 5…a6 and Tiviakov’s specialty 5…c6.
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 dxc4. Without a White Knight on c3 the positon becomes radically different to the earlier line, but the idea of disruption is still the key to understanding Black's play.
The variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 aims to throw Black off his normal game right from the word 'go', where he'll be forced to play accurately and deal with a number of intricate nuances just to get an equal position.
Mikhalchishin's new work sheds light on fresh ideas in the hyper-sharp c3 variation, the classical line, which is specially well played by Caruana, as well as further entertaining developments in the Semi-Arkhangelsk with a temporarily delayed b7-b5.
