The King's Gambit: A Modern View of a Swashbuckling Opening

Rating:
Summary: Good book. lots of information
Review: This book already helped me win a crushing victory when my opponent played the Classical Declined variation- the ten minutes I had spent grazing over a few lines and strategies a few days earlier paid off the next time that variation popped up, and I slaughtered my opponent even though he seemed to know the variation well- he played standard book moves mighty fast, but McDonald's concise outlines (I admit all of the data is simply buried in these types of specialized opening books and must be dug out) were clear and were what helped me win that game fast and easy (besides my murderous tactical ability- hey Im a Candidate Master). Three cheers for McDonald and his killer chess book.

Rating:
Summary: Review from a 1600+ tournament player.
Review: This book is pretty brief in the lines it covers and it doesn't even cover many lines. McDonald makes the presented material clearly legible, but should have considered making an "Accepted" book and a "Declined" book. I bought this with book with the intentions of learning an opening that would stun my opponents right off the bat, but McDonald almost convinces one to try a different opening. The King's Gambit is meant to be an all out aggressive win or lose approach to chess and McDonald fails to emphasize this. At the end of most of his variations he gives unclear positions where it looks to me like black might even be better. If you are considering taking up the King's Gambit I suggest that you learn the Bishops Gambit (3.Bc4). This is an ultra aggressive variation that Neil reluctantly mentions in his book. If you don't mind sacrificing material for development then this opening is for you. I have used the King's Gambit successfully on several occasions and those wins remain as my most exciting. I suggest taking up the King's Gambit if you like exciting chess but do not recommend that you start here. This book is mostly for a player who is looking for a little more on a specific variation. This is not a good book to try to get an overall feel for the King's Gambit.

Rating:
Summary: Good book. lots of information
Review: This book is pretty brief in the lines it covers and it doesn't even cover many lines. McDonald makes the presented material clearly legible, but should have considered making an "Accepted" book and a "Declined" book. I bought this with book with the intentions of learning an opening that would stun my opponents right off the bat, but McDonald almost convinces one to try a different opening. The King's Gambit is meant to be an all out aggressive win or lose approach to chess and McDonald fails to emphasize this. At the end of most of his variations he gives unclear positions where it looks to me like black might even be better. If you are considering taking up the King's Gambit I suggest that you learn the Bishops Gambit (3.Bc4). This is an ultra aggressive variation that Neil reluctantly mentions in his book. If you don't mind sacrificing material for development then this opening is for you. I have used the King's Gambit successfully on several occasions and those wins remain as my most exciting. I suggest taking up the King's Gambit if you like exciting chess but do not recommend that you start here. This book is mostly for a player who is looking for a little more on a specific variation. This is not a good book to try to get an overall feel for the King's Gambit.

Rating:
Summary: Good update on the opening
Review: This provides an interesting update on the opening. Contains reasonably good descriptions of various lines as illustrated by latest games played by top players, but still cannot remove the general doubt that the King' Gambit is quite over-ambitious and risky in modern times.

Rating:
Summary: Good update on the opening
Review: This provides an interesting update on the opening. Contains reasonably good descriptions of various lines as illustrated by latest games played by top players, but still cannot remove the general doubt that the King' Gambit is quite over-ambitious and risky in modern times.