a result, this opening is almost never seen in top-level play, but enjoys a certain popularity among club players. Some titled players, including International Master Gary Lane, consider the opening to be suitable at the club level and for young and improving players. In one of his Keybooks, the Rev Tim Sawyer said, "Stop playing for the endgame, play to end the game! Be a winner. Play the Blackmar–Diemer Gambit!" On the other hand, Sam Collins (in his book Understanding the Chess Openings) noted the tendency for some Blackmar–Diemer fanatics to try to get the opening in every game, thus limiting their chess experience, and concluded, "Nobody who plays good chess plays this line, and nobody who plays good chess ever will." Other dismissive quotes include "playing the Blackmar–Diemer Gambit is like shopping for a tombstone" (Andrew Martin) and "To convince an adherent of the BDG that it is unsound, is like trying to convince a child that there is no Santa Claus." (Kevin Denny). As a result of the intense controversy surrounding the opening, much of the literature on the opening is lacking in objectivity. GM Boris Avrukh has written that the gambit "may not be fully correct" but cautioned that he "was surprised at just how potent White's initiative could become". Although he was unable to fully refute the gambit and considered that Black faced a non-trivial defensive task, he felt that with correct play Black could emerge with good chances. GM Joe Gallagher wrote that he had "noticed a common trend among Blackmar–Diemer analysts; once there is no attack and the position looks rather balanced they tend to assess the game as =, forgetting the fact that they are a pawn down." Gallagher thought that the closely related Hübsch Gambit gave an equal game but that the Blackmar–Diemer provided "not really enough compensation" and there were "a number of areas where Black could fight for the advantage." Nevertheless, he cautioned that Black "inaccuracies can be swiftly punished" in the Blackmar–Diemer. IM John Cox wrote that the gambit was "objectively weak" but pragmatically recommended that Black should enter the Hübsch gambit instead of accepting the Blackmar–Diemer as "sod's law dictates that [the reader would meet the gambit] in the third Saturday game of a weekender, when few of us are at our sharpest tactically ... one slip sees you getting torched." Main variations It is easy for Black