GM Roeland Pruijssers

Hi everyone, my name is Roeland Pruijssers. I am a Dutch Grandmaster. In my first series for chess24 I want to share my analysis, games and ideas in the Schliemann-Jaenisch Gambit. It's an opening which I've been studying and playing for about five years now - with very good results. The first moves go like this:

1. e4 e5 2. ♘f3 ♘c6 3. ♗b5 And here the move

3... f5 is the one that characterizes the Jaenisch Gambit. Carl Jaenisch, a Finnish/Russian Master who was a top player around the 1840's, was the player who introduced this move. Nevertheless, the variation is also known as the so-called "Schliemann Variation", named after the German lawyer Schliemann who adopted the ...f5 idea in a slightly different position some years after Jaenisch had first used it. I personally got to know the opening as the so-called "Jaenisch Gambit", which is the reason for me calling it this way most of the time. Before we start, I want to say a little about the opening in general. First of all, the pawn can be taken with 4.exf5 at this moment, but after 4...e4 Black is very much fine. Since taking isn't very good, the point of ...f5 is that Black wants to get a pawn majority in the centre, just like in the Sicilian where the c-pawn is often exchanged for White's d pawn. Black is looking for a solid position after the exchange and wants to make natural moves while White is trying to keep Black from making these natural moves. In many cases that means preventing Black from castling kingside. The state of theory is inconclusive at this moment, there haven't been big wins or big losses at GM level and many new ideas have been seen over the years from both sides. The opening is generally recognized as very interesting and many top players have tried it. And if White doesn't know his stuff here, Black has very good chances to obtain an advantage. As it has not been played regularly by top players, much of the analysis I show will be my own, including a lot of novelties and explanations hidden behind played games. We are going to take a look at the main moves 4.Nc3 and 4.d3 and we're also going to discuss the sidelines so that you have a complete Jaenisch repertoire at your disposal. Thanks for reading the eBook. I hope you enjoy it!

This eBook is a reference companion to the video series, available for €14.99 (or $16.99). If you want to see and hear Roeland provide detailed instruction on this opening, you can purchase the series, which will also give you access to the full eBook.

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