Gambits: Part 0

I thought of an interesting idea for some posts and also for my chess development. My idea is to have a series going where I discuss a few more mainstream gambits that are quite common at the club level. I will also be throwing in some discussions of gambits that have seen some time in Super-GM games. I’ll also be discussing gambits that are mainlines such as the Chatard-Alekhine gambit against the classical French or the Marshall Gambits both against the semi-slav and on the black side of the Ruy Lopez. I don't know how many of these I'll get through before I'm tired of them, but if you have any suggestions on where I should start, I'm willing to listen.

So what's the point? Well, I think at high level chess quite often battles are fought just to get the initiative. While gambits for the most part artificially achieve this (by sacrificing one or more pawns), it's worth trying to figure out the differences between those gambits that are mainlines (i.e. Marshall Gambit) and those gambits that are rare in master games (i.e. Blackmar Diemer). I'm most curious in studying some key positions, not necessarily theoretical, where it seems that 1) the initiative is too small, 2) the initiative is in balance with the pawn or pawns, or 3) the initiative is enough to give an advantage despite being down material.