FIDE Master (and USCF Senior Master) Igor Nikolayev's games include 100's of gambit openings (King's gambit, Danish and Scotch gambits, Evans gambit, Jaenisch-Schliemann Gambit, Smith-Morra gambit, Budapest gambit, Blumenfeld gambit, Benko gambit, Nikolayev gambit, some less known gambits). Encyclopedic arrays of 2.c3 Anti-Sicilian (about two hundred games) and a splendid Renaissance of the Ponziani Opening (a few dozen games). Handling the French without the notorious pawn chains (~100 games). Destroying the Caro Kann with simple tools the opponents didn’t study (~100 games). A bit of brutal violence in the Scandinavian, Pirc and modern defense (a few dozen games). Surprisingly efficient revelations on both sides in the Two Knights and the Italian Game (~200 games). Making White forget 'milking the cow' in the Spanish Game (~100 games). Strategically aggressive approaches against the Queen's gambit, the Catalan Opening, the English Opening, the Reti, the Colle, the Bird’s opening. Not to forget Chigorin's Defense with the adventurous but convincing early e7-e5, From's Gambit to its full extent, and a real bomb in the Four Knights Opening. Still a lot more with anything in-between, leading to tense, dynamic positions where imaginative play and deep calculations are most at home. Attacks, combinations and tactical strikes merge with many instructive endgames. And a bit of chess philosophy, psychology and humor.
