The Duras Gambit

[John Upham]

At Guildford Chess Club last night it was refreshing to witness an outing for The Duras Gambit.

1. e4 f5 2.ef: Nf6

although I thought 2...Kf7 was meant to be in the spirit of the opening.

[Paul Cooksey]

was your draw offer accepted at this point John?

[John Upham]

No offer was made. I was a lowly spectator.

The gambiteer lost with black and then with as the first player essayed

1. d4 d5 2.e4 de: 3. Sc3 Sf6 4. f3 ef: 5. Sf3 Sc6 6.Lc4 and then proceeded to give away yet more pawns for zero compensation and lost shortly afterwards.

I was disappointed not to see a full blown Fred, Mao Tse Tung variation.

[Simon Rogers]

I think during lockdown players have been looking at various openings online.
I must admit, I've been looking at the Nakamura games and a number by Serbian GMs.
One of our juniors was back at the club last night for the first time and was playing 1.g4 after studying it online.
Mind you it looks like I could be playing sometimes on top board for Poulton 1 and be facing Brett Lund's 1.h4 when we play Preston 1.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I was disappointed not to see a full blown Fred, Mao Tse Tung variation.

There are certainly examples to be found on the mega-databases, including (yes) some Black wins.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I recommend a search for Youtube and Eric Rosen, if you want to see interesting openings.

[Francis Fields]

Was Kevin Duras a Welshman?