IF pieces sacrifices are your meat and potatoes, pawn gambits are the way to set the table.
The trouble is that almost all of the familiar gambits have been analyzed to death, and defenders know to decline their offers of a pawn.
But there are a few gambits that remain tempting appetizers, like the one in the Sicilian Defense that former US Champion Larry Christiansen tossed at Marko Zivanic in a US Chess League match last month.
The move 8 Bd3!? originated in a 1971 postal game that ended soon after 10 . . . Qc7 11 Qf3 d6 12 Bb6! Qe7 13 Bxb5+!. The sacrifices (12 . . . Qxb6 13 Qxf7+ or 13 . . . axb5 14 Nxb5 and Nxd6+ or Nc7+) were too strong.
Accepting a second pawn with 10 . . . Qxh2, instead of 10 . . . Qc7, is nearly as bad, in view of 11 Qf3 f6 12 e5!, threatening Qxa8.
In fact, the 8 Bd3 gambit has been considered too hot for Black to accept. In this game, Black came up with a way to give back the pawn: 10 . . . Qc7 11 Qh5 Nf6 (in place of 11 . . . Nh6? 12 g4! and 13 g5).
But Christiansen got to make the kind of sacrifices he’s lived on for 30-plus years, such as 17 Rxd6!, which threatens 18 Rd8+ Qxd8 19 Qxf7 mate.