Play the Halloween Gambit like Jimmy Ogunlana (Crushing Gambit Series)

Crushing Gambiteer - Jimmy Ogunlana (NigerianMachine)

This is the latest installment of my Crushing Gambits Series where we are covering off-beat and smashing gambits. Ogunlana has master-strength in online speed chess and has a near-top 2000 rank in bullet (peak rating of 2721). There are many masters who employ the Halloween Gambit as a secondary weapon or on occasion when they want to have a bit of fun. Ogunlana is the only 2500+ online champion I could find who is daring enough to play it all the time. Hats off to the incredible pluck and (spooky) spirit of Ogunlana to turn the Halloween Gambit into a formidable system with crushing results.

The Study - Play the Halloween Gambit like Jimmy Ogunlana (NigerianMachine)

The below study is the latest installment of my "Play like..." Interactive Lesson series which can be best enjoyed with the Lichess Tools browser extension installed. The idea of the study is to learn Ogunlana's treatment of the Halloween Gambit with a spaced-repetition philosophy.

The study includes many of the 2700+ speed chess games that Ogunlana has played in these lines up to move 20, which were downloaded, merged, and then I separated out the lines. In each chapter, I present an Ogunlana main line up to a certain point (typically when there's 10-20 or so games left in a particular line). After that, you are playing through his games in that line up to move 20. As you play through the games, you should be naturally internalizing the middle game plans.

Here is the study:

LichessTools

To get the most out of this study you should add the LichessTools browser extension. LichessTools allows you to play through all the games/variations in an interactive lesson chapter (rather than just the single main line). So if you decline to add LiChess Tools then you are only playing 10% of the study.

Available here:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/langlhlcknngldkeliapahbhbcmlcbcj

Cheers,

Dsoul20