Customer Reviews

The Latvian Gambit Lives!

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a fine chess book on how to play the Latvian Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5), for either side.

In my opinion, the Latvian Gambit is not sound. I think of all Black defences to 1 e4, it may be the one that maximizes White's play.

Still, you have a Right to play it! Don't let anyone deprive you of that right! Especially if you have Black against me!

The Latvian does get its share of points, albeit with rather few draws. It can be played in tournament games, five-minute games, and even correspondence games. You can play it against strong, average, or weak opponents. Contrary to popular belief, it does not take much effort to play it for Black. The ideas for Black are straightforward. If White wastes time, Black will get plenty of play. And if Black gets the chance, she'll probably castle quickly, open the f-file, and blast away at f2.

If, Caissa forbid, you want to play the Latvian for Black as though it were a sound defence, that means vowing to try to play the objectively strongest move at every opportunity after move 2 (if you did that at move two, you would have played 2...Nc6). And that's where this excellent book comes in handy. The main lines are easy to learn, and this book teaches them well.

The main line for White is 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 3 Nxe5 Qf6 4 d4 d6 5 Nc4 fxe4 6 Nc3 Qg6. Here, White has many tries, and if you simply must play this for Black, I recommend looking at the following lines in the book:

7 f3 exf3 8 Qxf3 Nf6 9 Bd3 Qg4
7 Bf4 Nf6 8 Qd2 Be7 9 0-0-0 0-0 (a popular choice for White, but I prefer Black here)
7 Ne3 Nf6 8 Be2 c6 9 0-0 Be7
7 Be3 Nf6 8 h3 Be7 9 Qd2 0-0 10 0-0-0 c6
7 Nd5 Qf7 8 Nde3 Nf6 9 Be2 Be7
7 Qe2 Nf6 8 f3 Nc6 9 Be3 Be7
7 d5 Nf6 8 Be3 Be7 9 Qd4 0-0 10 Nd2 c5
7 g3 Nf6 8 Bg2 Bg4 9 Qd2 Nc6
7 h3 Nf6 8 g4 Be7 9 g5 Nfd7
7 h4 Nf6 8 h5 Qf7 9 Bg5 d5

There are two dangerous White alternatives on move six:

6 Ne3 c6 7 Bc4 d5 8 Bb3 Be6 9 c4 Qf7 10 Qe2 Nf6 11 0-0 Bd6
6 Be2 Nc6 7 d5 Ne5 8 0-0 Nxc4 9 Bxc4 Qg6 10 Bb5+ Kd8 (a very good line for White)

Right now, the deadliest line for White is:

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 3 Nxe5 Qf6 4 Nc4 fxe4 5 Nc3 Qf7 6 Ne3 c6 7 d3 exd3 8 Bxd3 d5 9 0-0

In this line, I think you ought to look at 9...Bc5. But be sure you have an idea how to survive after 10 Nexd5 cxd5 11 Nxd5 Be6. If White plays 10 Na4 Bd6 11 c4 Ne7 12 Nc3 there is a new try for Black that Kosten does not mention, namely 12...0-0 13 cxd5 cxd5 14 Nexd5 Nxd5 15 Nxd5 Nc6 16 Nc3 Be5. The idea is to accept this position down a full pawn and try to draw it. It's Black's best chance.

Some people may try 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 3 Bc4 fxe4 4 Nxe5. That's a mistake. They obviously haven't read this book! You'll play 4...d5 5 Qh5+ g6 6 Nxg6 hxg6. At this point, White will probably think she's winning. But after 7 Qxh8 Kf7 8 Qd4 Be6, White generally stands worse. More likely, White will try something like 7 Qxg6+ Kd7 8 Bxd5 Nf6 9 Nc3 Qe7 10 d3 exd3 11 Be3 c6 12 Bb3 Bh6 13 0-0-0 Bxe3+ 14 fxe3 b6 after which she'll probably get into serious trouble. Or you may see 7 Qxg6+ Kd7 8 Qf7+ Qe7 9 Qxd5+ Ke8 10 Nc3 Nf6 11 Qg5 Be6, which is good for Black.

Of course, White may play 3 exf5, so you may want to look at lines such as:

3...e4 4 Ne5 Qg5 5 d4 Qxf5 6 Bc4 Nc6 7 g4 Qf6 8 Nf7 d5 9 Bxd5 Nxd4 or maybe
3...e4 4 Ne5 Nf6 5 Be2 d6 6 Bh5+ Ke7 7 Nf7 Qe8 as well as
3...e4 4 Nd4 Qf6

You also need to know the wild line 3 d4 fxe4 4 Nxe5 Nf6 5 Bg5 d6 6 Nc3 dxe5 7 dxe5 Qxd1+ 8 Rxd1 h6 9 Bxf6 gxf6 10 Nd5 Kd7 11 Nb6 (double check) Kc6 12 Nxa8 fxe5.

Against 3 Nc3, just play 3...fxe4 4 Nxe5 (4 Nxe4 Nf6) Qf6 5 d4 exd3.

One last line to look at is 3 d3 Nc6 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 exf5 d5 6 d4 exd4 7 Nxd4 Nxd4 8 Qxd4 Bxf5 9 Bg5 Bxc2 10 Rc1 Bg6 11 Bxf6 Qxf6 12 Qe3+ Qe7 13 Qxe7+ Kxe7.

If you play 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 as White, you might want to read this just to make sure you take full advantage of anyone who tries 2...f5.

I recommend this book for those on both sides of this gambit.

The Latvian is a great opening for beginners who still need to work on their tactics. Of course, you will probably lose your first 50 games or so (even after preparation), but after that... In response to another reviewer's comments regarding this gambit versus Fritz, well of course this isn't the opening against a computer. Computers excel at wide open tactical positions. If you really want to win against Fritz, play something like the Stonewall attack or the closed Sicilian. But what do you really learn about chess playing in that style. Most games below the expert level are decided by tactics, not by shrewd positional subtleties. And, that business about it not being playable at the GM level -- just nonsense. You don't see it much OTB because it is not pragmatic from a clock management point of view. However, there are many GM correspondence games in which black does fine. For clubbers like me, this opening has three good things to recommend it: (1) how many white players are really going to know the theory on this?!; (2) most players (you know who you are) think this gambit is completely unsound and try to "prove it" with really aggressive moves that usually lead them down the road of ruin; and (3) you will learn more about tactics, defense, initiative, time, and mating nets than in just about any other gambit. I would have added the following, but the more you play the gambit in your club, the less it will be true: white players will often smugly think you have fallen for the oldest trick in the book (Qh5+ g6, Nxg6) only to be brought roughly down to Earth when you prove that it is they who have fallen into the trap. Even if you lose after that, the satisfaction of watching their smugness turn to astonishment (in your "blindness"), then slowly into uneasiness and finally (and usually rather abruptly) into desperation is well worth the lost point. Schadenfreude to be sure, but also another opportunity to exercise your creativity in searching for the best punishment for your overzealous opponent. Kosten has really done some homework for this (and the first book) and it will pay off for you (eventually anyway, just hang in there and don't worry about your rating for a few months!) even if you ultimately decide another opening is better for your heart....

First of all, disregard reviews that discredit books about openings because of the reviewer's dislike for the opening. Giving 1 star to a book because you don't like the opening doesn't make any sense, plus it shows that such person didn't even read the book. Plus in this book Kosten clearly establishes that this is not a "win with the Latvian" book or anything like that and that this gambit remains dubious and very risky.

With that said this is about the best work you can get on this dubious opening. Although barely seen at grandmaster level, the Latvian Gambit stays popular in correspondence chess and learning it can give you the surprise value against your rival from the chess club you visit, specially in blitz games.
Kosten gives you about any variation you can use. Whether the gambit is accepted with 3. Nxe4 or 3.exe4 or declined. Although not a popular opening, this book has A LOT of volume. Variations, semi variations and lines go deep into more than 15 moves.
It actually has a lot more volume than expected, but then again you can always save time and avoid memorization but choosing some variations. If the gambit is accepted in two ways and black has three options for a third move for those two ways, you can always choose on option for each. So you only learn 2 variations instead of 6 when the gambit is accepted. But that is up to you of course.

As stated by another reviewer, chances are you will not start winning right after studying this book. The Latvian Gambit is like a road full of mines for black. One mistake and White will have a powerful attack and an advantage almost impossible to reverse if your opponent is a good player. You will need to learn a lot of theory and you obviously need to be an aggressive player that likes sharp variations. However if black plays correctly white will also be in for a hard ride and a little mistake will make White getting into really poor positions or ready for a very poor ending very early in the game. Trust me, with some positions requiring white to find 1 very good move among many bad moves, you will get the result you want specially in blitz games.
Yes, it's dubious and risky, but played correctly the Latvian Gambit can also be hard for White.

4 stars instead of 5 because the book is a bit hard to follow and the huge amount of material becomes a little messy. You may be being taught a 5th move and the author takes you to a game in which another 5th move was chosen, then he tells you about the 8th move and how in a third game another 8th move was played and this third game when in this direction. After half a page you go back to the original line after being taken through 2 games just to explain you that you that the best move was the one you were being told about at the beginning. Everything in a very limited space, which makes it a bit messy. Maybe to save space (many books don't even include the "x" for taking a piece to save space). So sometimes it requires the reader to read again to avoid confusion.

Good book, lots of information and about the best that can be obtained about an almost infamous gambit. A little bit messy at times but nothing that can't be solved with extra attention. Recommended if you want to learn something that will definitely surprise you local chess club rival.

Viktor Pupols, legendary Seattle chess Master, is a Latvian specialist, mostly in correspondence chess, but he also used it OTB including to beat a young Bobby Fischer. After meeting Pupols at a tournament and then reading the short book "Viktor Pupols: American Master" I decided to learn the Latvian in emulation of this great character. If you are so motivated, then the "Latvian Gambit Lives!" is a great book. It is one of the clearest yet highly detailed opening books I've seen. Kosten loves this opening and is a good writer.

The problem is: he can't really change the nature of the opening. I ultimately decided playing the Latvian is the equivalent of pulling the goalie in hockey...only in the 1st period with the game still tied. Yes, you may be able to get an attack going, but you're made it very easy for White to launch his own attack. Some other wild gambits (the Danish comes to mind) at least pose the opponent problems hard to solve OTB, but even unprepared White players are likely to find good lines against the Latvian.

Is it possible to write a good book about a bad opening? Kosten proves it is, but you can't be surprised if few people read it. Now if we could just convince Kosten to write a book on the Danish!

Having read the book "The Latvian Gambit Lives!" l was very impressed with the amazing depth of research and analysis Kosten has put into this book. I found it very readable and shows the reader how to play this fighting defence with a capital "F".

lt is one of the "must have" books on this gambit!

I have not read this particular book; however, I do own (and do read!) its predecessor, by the same author.

In response to the previous review, I would say that, on the contrary, this defence is well worth playing. I find that the surprise value is well worth the investment: players of e4, Nf3 seldom encounter the Latvian Gambit and realise over the board that its ramifications are dangerous. It is difficult to play 'standard' developing moves against it because Black can easily gain the initiative. The sharpness has its drawbacks though: unlike other openings, the Latvian Gambit is on a knife edge and any innacuracy can be punished quite dramatically - this is true for both Black and White. This is where Black can gain an advantage against someone who is unprepared: "I know it is unsound but if White does not know how to take advantage I will come out better."
This is why I like to play it.
Take a chance! If White does not know the theory, it is certainly playable. If he does, hang on in there - its going to be a bumpy ride.

Objectively, the gambit is as unsound as it ever was. I'm convinced that, if the world's two best players, say, Kasparov and Kramnik, played a match wherein Black had to play the Latvian in every game, the only question would be whether or not White would win all the games or allow a draw here and there.

Having said that, is it fair to say that it's so bad, it's unplayable? Well, given a sufficiently weak opponent, almost anything "works." I believe the proper answer to the question of the soundness and playability of the Latvian is: it depends on who is playing. If both players are reasonably well prepared, and White is well below the Grandmaster level, Black should find that he's dug a pretty formidable hole for himself; but if White is the sort of fellow who just wants to play quietly and develop his pieces in peace, Black should be okay; in fact, it's then when he might be able to seize the initiative.

Kosten has definitely improved on his previous book on the Latvian, but unless your definition of a "live" opening is one that you can spring on your friends at the local chess club, and NOT something Kosten can use to successfully surprise players at his level, I am afraid the burden of proof is still on the author. Am I wrong? Well, try playing the Latvian against Fritz or Junior and see how long you last. Or, could you imagine what would have happened to Kasparov had he played the Latvian against Fritz in their recent match? (Fritz and Junior are extremely strong computer programs, by the way).

First,I don't have this book.

I have 'The latvian Gambit a grandmaster view' by Anatoly lein and sid pickard.The publisher is Hays Publishing.

For all young players,don't play this opening.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5?!
It is very risky.

I am not against whether you want to but the book or not,but the opening is not good.