Saragossa Schneider Gambit.
My great uncle Sam discovered Vitamin B6. I, Avi D. Schneider, discovered a new chess opening - the Saragossa Schneider Gambit.
When I was a kid, I always dreamed of becoming an inventor. Well, I'm proud to say I am! Only, cementing my opening's place in history has been challenging.
After discussion and consideration, I filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
My filing was close to succeeding, but alas, I failed to cross the finish-line without legal aid.
Saragossa Schneider Gambit (1.c3 e5 2.d4 exd 3.Nf3)
And so the trek continues!!
(Details below)
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History
The Saragossa Schneider Gambit is a dynamic, fresh chess opening that was discovered by Avi D. Schneider on January 24, 2016. (https://www.chess.com/game/live/1435321269)
Never heard of the Saragossa? You’re not alone. If you were to take a random sampling of 1000 recorded games of the 11.14M recorded games on ChessBase, odds are you would encounter the Saragossa Opening 0 times (Exhibit A). The Saragossa opening occurs when White begins the game by advancing their queenside bishop pawn one square from c2 to c3, hence the annotation: 1.c3.
Fat Cat Chess’ Founder & Captain, Avi Schneider, has distinguished himself as a Saragossa specialist. When asked why he plays such an obscure opening, he explains that two of Black’s most reputable defenses advance their queenside bishop pawn one square on Black’s first turn 1.c6 (Caro-Kann) or second turn 2.c6 (Slav). His logic is simple: if it’s OK for Black, why not for White too? His coach International Master Angelo Young says, “It’s a principled move, which can transpose into a variety of popular systems.”
Avi theorizes, “It’d be brash to claim 1.c3 is a mistake. So, why is it never played? In relation to Shannon’s number, which calculates there to be more possible chess moves than atoms in the existent universe, much of chess remains unexplored. Even with chess exploration moving at a record pace with recent technological advancements in computer analysis, the fact remains that the first world championship chess match La Bourdonnais vs. McDonnell (1834) took place 188 years ago. My grandfather lived 98 years. Chess is young.”
Remarkably, this young man is nearing more recorded 1.c3 games (USCF tournament, lichess.org/@/godliness, chess.com/avidness) than all database recorded 1.c3 games in history, 3085 per ChessBase. So, perhaps it is not incredibly surprising that he has discovered a new opening he’s coined the Saragossa Schneider Gambit [1.c3 e5 2.d4 exd 3.Nf3 dxc 4.Nxc3]. National Chess Expert and friend, Andrew Zinn, vouches for the Saragossa Schneider Gambit: “I suspect the Schneider Gambit is even stronger than the Smith-Morra Gambit because black is without his king pawn, which is pivotal to the Smith-Morra’s mainline defense.”
IM Angelo Young,
“I think Avi’s opponents in the USAT-N tournament avoided his Schneider Gambit because they were afraid to play against it.”
Avi’s body of theory on the Saragossa, however, extends past his prized gambit. FIDE Master William Graif credited Avi for justifying his surprising 1.c3 Nf6 2.f4 ?! by move 10.
Truth is, these days while I'm proud of my invention, I've been exploring the multitude of other chess openings as I continue my journey as a chess player.
Interested in learning more? Contact Avi@fatcatchess.org
