Fighting for the initiative with the Schara-Hennig Gambit in 60min, Nico Zwirs (English)

The Schara-Hennig Gambit is a new and trendy line. For years people thought it was dubious, but since the arrival of Neural Network engines it has gained in popularity. Those computers are much better at long-term thinking and can indicate the long-term consequences of the early pawn sacrifices. The gambit has been picked up by many strong players. Most of them played in rapid & blitz, but none-other than Magnus Carlsen played it in a classical game against Sam Shankland in Wijk aan Zee. This indicates that even the world champion thinks it is sound. In the Schara-Hennig Gambit, black sacrifices a pawn in return for a lead in development. From that point on, black has two options: playing against white’s king; or trying to prevent white from developing. In the latter case it’s mainly about the c1-bishop. More