Top 7 Aggressive Chess Openings

Dear Chess Friends!

I created a video where described top 7 aggressive chess openings that I played in my games! 3 of them are for white and 4 for black! I definitely recommend you to use some of them, for example, the ones you like or you think fit your playing style! I also want you to pay more attention to openings for black, because if you learn them, it can help you to overtake the initiative from the first moves even playing with black pieces!

1) WHITE: Evans Gambit

This opening was played by such chess legends as Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Nigel Short and others. This is a good choice to avoid boring and slow Italian game. I play from time to time and also recommend to my students.

2) WHITE: Danish Gambit (Nordic Gambit)

It is one of the most aggressive openings you can play and it focuses on sacrificing material for rapid development and a huge spacial advantage. This opening I recommend to beginners and kids, because at the beginners level development and initiative are more valuable than extra material.

3) WHITE: Smith-Morra Gambit!

An aggressive response to Sicilian Defense! You can meet this opening nowadays on Masters and GMs level. White sacrifices a pawn, but black has to play properly and defend his position!

4) BLACK: Marshall Attack (in Ruy Lopez)

This opening is named after the American chess master Frank Marshall. If you play 1…e5 I higly recommend you to play this attack. It’s modern opening, that is considered to be better for black (for players under 2000) regardless of a pawn sacrifice. Why is it better for black at the level below 2000? It’s because white has to find the only moves. Masters and Grandmasters know them, but an ordinary club player doesn’t and is unlikely to find during the game! That’s why black can get the advantage!

5) BLACK: Albin Counter-Attack

If you don’t know how to play against Queen’s Gambit, you may choose this opening, because it ruins all white typical plans. However, I believe Albin Counter-Gambit is more suitable for blitz games.

6) BLACK: Sicilian Defense: O’Kelly Variation

Some players also call this opening a Sicilian Attack, because it’s black who attacks in this variation. Usually in Sicilian Defense white tries to attack black king, while black finds a counter play on the queenside or a tactical solution in the center, but not in this opening. Look at the board and I’m sure you love it!

7) Icelandic Gambit

White has to be very careful as the Icelandic Gambit has many different traps that one can fall into. When I was 10, Scandinavian Defense with 2…Nf6 was my primary opening. That time almost nobody knew about Icelandic Gambit and I was so impressed when found it in one of the chess magazines. Icelandic Gambit could lead to really sharp positions, where I could apply my tactical vision and calculation ability.

If you have any suggestions, comments or recommendations, please, share them in the comment section.

Best Regards,

FM Victor Neustroev