King's Gambit, Rice Gambit

{{Short description|Chess opening}} {{Infobox chess opening | openingname = Rice Gambit | image = {{Chess diagram|| |rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|__|__|rd |pd|pd|pd|__|__|pd|__|pd |__|__|__|bd|__|nd|__|__ |__|__|__|pl|nl|__|__|__ |__|__|bl|__|__|pd|pd|pl |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__ |pl|pl|pl|pl|__|__|pl|__ |rl|nl|bl|ql|__|rl|kl|__ }} | moves = 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.0-0 | ECO = C39 | birth = | nameorigin = Isaac Rice | parentopening = King's Gambit | AKA = | chessgid = }}

The '''Rice Gambit''' is a chess opening that arises from the King's Gambit Accepted. An offshoot of the Kieseritzky Gambit, it is characterized by the moves '''1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Bc4 d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. 0-0''' (instead of the normal 8.d4). White offers the sacrifice of the knight on e5 in order to get his king to safety and prepare a rook to join the attack against Black's underdeveloped position. {{algebraic notation|pos=toc}}

==History== The Rice Gambit was heavily promoted by wealthy German-born, American businessman Isaac Rice towards the end of the 19th century. He sponsored numerous theme tournaments where the diagram position became the starting point of every game played. Such giants of the chess world as Emanuel Lasker, Mikhail Chigorin, Carl Schlechter, Frank Marshall, and David Janowski were among the participants.<ref name="Soltisp.165">Soltis 1978, p. 165.</ref> These events stretched from Monte Carlo, Saint Petersburg, and Ostend, to Brooklyn and Trenton Falls.<ref name="Soltisp.165"/> In a 1905 Pillsbury National Correspondence Chess Association event, 230 amateurs played the gambit by mail.<ref name="Soltisp.165"/> So fascinated was Rice with his pet line, he formed The '''Rice Gambit Association''' in 1904, at his home in New York.<ref name="Sunnucksp.404">Sunnucks 1970, p. 404.</ref> With Dr. Lasker as Secretary, the Association even published a book of all the games played in the theme tournaments.<ref name="Sunnucksp.404"/>

Concrete analysis has long since shown the gambit to be "neither good nor necessary", so it has been abandoned in serious play and stands only as "a grotesque monument to a rich man's vanity".<ref name="HooperandWhyldp.340">Hooper & Whyld 1996, ''Rice Gambit'', p. 340.</ref>

Gallagher (1992) states "Basically, White sacrifices a piece and castles into a raging attack, but according to theory, he miraculously holds the balance. Nevertheless, I still advise you to steer well clear of it."<ref>Gallagher 1992, p. 63</ref>

The ''Encyclopedia of Chess Openings'' (1997) analyzes :8...Bxe5 9.Re1 Qe7 10.c3 Nh5 11.d4 Nd7 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.b3 0-0 14.Ba3 Nf3+ 15.gxf3 Qxh4 16.Re5 Bf5 (or 16...Qg3+ =) 17.Nd2 Qg3+ 18.Kf1 Qh2 19.Bxf8 g3 20.Bc5 g2+ 21.Ke1 Qh4+ (or 21...g1=Q+ 22.Bxg1 Qxg1+ 23.Bf1 Ng3 with an unclear position [but note that computer analysis shows that here 23...Qg3+, not mentioned by ECO, wins for Black]) 22.Ke2 Ng3+ 23.Kf2 Ne4+

with a draw by perpetual check, attributing this analysis to José Raúl Capablanca, Amos Burn, and Edward Lasker.<ref>Matanović 1997 (Vol C), p. 209, n. 28.</ref>

Shaw (2013) gives "After the following accurate (and by no means obvious) sequence Black is better: 8 ... Bxe5 9. Re1 Qe7! 10. c3 f3! 11. d4 Ne4! 12. Rxe4 Bh2+ 13. Kxh2 Qxe4 ∓" <ref>Shaw 2013, p. 29</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

'''Bibliography''' *{{cite book | author=Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld | title=The Oxford Companion To Chess | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1996 | isbn=0192800493}} *{{cite book |editor-last=Matanović |editor-first=Aleksandar |editor-link=Aleksandar Matanović |title=Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings |publisher=Chess Informant |location=Yugoslavia |volume=C |edition=3rd |year=1997 |isbn=86-7297-035-7}} *{{cite book | author=Shaw, John | title=The King's Gambit|publisher=Quality Chess | year=2013|isbn=978-1-906552-71-8}} *{{cite book | author=Gallagher, Joe | title=Winning With The King's Gambit|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|year=1992|isbn=0-8050-2631-2}} *{{cite book | author=Soltis, Andy | title= Chess to Enjoy | url=https://archive.org/details/chesstoenjoy00solt| url-access=registration| publisher=Stein and Day | year=1978 | isbn=0-8128-6059-4}} *{{cite book | author=Sunnucks, Anne | title=The Encyclopaedia of Chess | publisher=Hale | year=1970 | isbn=0709110308}}

==External links== * Edward Winter, [https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/rice.html Professor Isaac Rice and the Rice Gambit] (2006)

Category:Chess openings