The King's Gambit by John Shaw

There was a golden era when The King’s Gambit was the favourite opening of every attacking player. In the glory days of Paul Morphy it was considered almost cowardly to play anything else. Legends such as Spassky and Bronstein kept the flame burning in the 20th century, but its popularity faded as players became distrustful of White’s ultra-aggressive approach. Nevertheless there are honourable exceptions whose games prove that this ancient weapon can still draw blood – Short, Nakamura and Zvjaginsev are world-class players who have used the King’s Gambit successfully. In this groundbreaking work, GM John Shaw shows that the ultimate Romantic chess opening remains relevant and dangerous even in the computer era.

GM John Shaw has been Scottish Champion three times. This is his most ambitious book to date, and was many years in the making.

680 pages - Published 19 July 2013

Paperback ISBN 978-1-906552-71-8
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-906552-74-9

ChessPublishing Opening Book of the Year 2013

Reviews

"John Shaw’s long-awaited Magnum Opus The King’s Gambit is an impressively objective attempt at covering one of the sharpest openings."

GM Michael Adams, Daily Telegraph

"The King's Gambit is a fantastic publication that is clearly the result of a tremendous amount of work by Shaw, for which he deserves immense credit. It's not a book for passing the time on public transport, but if the reader is willing to put in the effort to really digest the analysis, there's a lot to be gained. I'm very curious to see whether this publication will spark a revival of the once fashionable opening at the top level; I can confess that the book has inspired at least one grandmaster of dubious repute to add it to his repertoire..."

GM David Smerdon, ChessVibes (full review)

"I think that the team up in Glasgow spend a great deal of time deciding how to pass over their message in an accommodating way. The result is a truly first-class presentation, so that the KG is so much easier to handle than many shorter (and physically lighter!) books on the market. I very much appreciated John Shaw's witty writing style...

The KG is a must for 1...e5 players."

GM Glenn Flear, New in Chess

"It took the author five years to write this book... It’s truly a work of love."

GM Hans Ree, New in Chess

"This will be the standard theoretical work on the King's Gambit for many years."

IM Frank Zeller, SCHACH

"John Shaw's book, The King's Gambit is an outstanding work on an opening which is no longer so popular. The author has invested a lot of time and effort, and the presentation is clear and careful, as with all books published by Quality Chess. Those who still play with King's Gambit with either White or Black can still have plenty of fun playing many crazy variations."

André Schulz, ChessBase (full review in German)

"The chapters are all great and the content is rich in new ideas, which are incredibly well analysed and brought to text. One can clearly feel the years of work which were put into it.

This book is key to the King’s Gambit and the best book which was ever written on this opening and probably will ever be written! Some say it’s hard to tell the truth in chess when it comes to openings, but I’ve got the feeling that this book comes extremely close to it in most chapters.

6/6 Highly Recommended!"

Lukas Wedrychowski, dailychess.org (full review)

"Anyone who plays the King’s Gambit will need to buy this book. Anyone who plays against the King’s Gambit will have to at least borrow this book from a friend, just to make sure that Shaw hasn’t busted their favored response! It is really an impressive work, and it was well worth the wait."

John Hartmann (full review)

"This is probably the most comprehensive book on the King's Gambit that the world has seen, or will see for many years to come. 'The King's Gambit' is a remarkable and successful work."

Uwe Bekemann, www.bdf-fernschachbund.de

"The book is a monster. A monster that will kill you if you are not careful! You know if you tame it, it will eat out of your hand... The Kings Gambit is a masterpiece despite the points raised and deserves to be."

Martin Rieger (full review in German)

"Summing up, John Shaw has taken an ancient and currently unpopular opening and produced an entertaining and instructive volume clocking in at a little under 700 pages. A remarkable achievement!"

Sean Marsh (full review)

"Immediately run to the store for this King's Gambit Bible."

Bab Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad