Gambit

The chess-oriented definition here doesn't quite tell the whole story. Any player who sacrifices material (i.e., one or more pawns or other pieces) is playing a gambit. The hope is that your opponent will have to expend valuable time capturing the material, allowing you to gain a lead in development or mount an attack. The premise behind gambitry is "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

I find this excellent term poorly used by the general public. Too often, it is used to mean a simple tactic, as in "The candidate's most recent gambit was to appear in front of a high-school crowd." A better use would be "The candidate's most recent gambit was to appear before a trade-union crowd, which may rankle his conservative voting base."

The word gambit comes from the Italian "gambetto dare", which means, "To trip up a person".

"The refutation of a gambit frequently lies in its acceptance." - Steinitz

Remy Lebeau ( aka Gambit ) is one of the X-men and an intriguing Marvel super-hero. Born in New Orleans to unknown parents, he was unsual to the effect that his eyes had a reddish hue. He's stolen from the hospital and put under the care of a person called Antiquary. However Jean Luc Lebeau, leader of the Thieves Guild, steals Remy from him and hides him, only to lose him a little later on.

Young Remy grows on the street as an orphan. He starts picking up the tricks of the trade, specializing in pick-pocketing. His skill catches the attention of Jean Luc who takes him into the guild and teaches him the skills and secrets of the Guild.

His clan, the Thieves Guild of New Orleans, was at war with the Assassins Guild. To maintain peace among the clans, he married Belladonna Boudreaux, the daughter of the chief of the Assassins Guild. But Remy was exiled soon after for killing her brother in a duel.

His skills and mutant ability to charge objects with kinetic energy made him an excellent thief and he adventured for a long time. It was during one such adventure, he met Storm ( while she was in her younger self). The two became a team and robbed many rich estates. Storm reverted to her former self and rejoined the X-men and Gambit chose to follow her.

While in the X-men, Gambit, at first takes a liking to Jean Grey and flirts with her a bit, but Rogue soons captures his heart. However, his efforts to approach Rogue are in vain.

Gambit is a mysterious character and there are unclear parts of his past. However, he seems to know Madripoor, SabreTooth, and some other old enemies of the X-Men. Bishop once suspected him of being a traitor to his companions in the future, but that plan has been revised since Professor Xavier has been shown to be Onslaught, the X-Traitor. In the future, Bishop was supposed to have been trained by Gambit, who taught him how to fight and was known as The Witness.

Gambit is a game show that took the concept of blackjack and turned it into a rather watchable, and sometimes enjoyable, show to watch.

Statistics:
Lifespan: September 1972 - December 1976, September 1980 - October 1981 (Known during this period as "Las Vegas Gambit")
Host: Wink Martindale
Announcer: Kenny Williams
Hostesses: Elaine Stewart, Beverly Malden, Lee Menning
Produced by: Merrill Heater - Bob Quigley Productions

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Gameplay:

Two married couples compete. To start the game off, Wink would ask a question for control of the cards. (All questions were either multiple-choice or true/false.) The first couple to buzz in with the correct answer got to choose whether to take the card shown before the question, or give it to the other player. (All cards after the first were kept secret until control was established.) If a couple answered incorrectly, the other couple got control of the card.

The object of the game was, essentially, Blackjack. Get as close to 21 as you can without going over. As in the gambling game, Aces were worth either 1 or 11, and face cards were worth 10. At any time in the game, a couple could freeze their hand and not accept any more cards.

There were four ways to win the game:

• Your opponents go over 21 (Accomplished by giving them a card that will set them over)
• Freeze your hand, then your opponents miss a question
• If your opponents froze, and you topped their score (ties don't count)
• Reaching 21 exactly (which won a jackpot that started at $500 and went up by $500 for each round that it wasn't won.)

Each win won $100, and two games earned the right to go to...

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The Bonus Round

The winner was shown a board with 21 numbers on it (During Las Vegas Gambit, there were 18 numbers.) The couple takes turns picking numbers off of the board, recieving the prize that each number guarded. After each number was picked, the couple recieved a card. The couple could keep picking prizes as long as their hand did not go over 21. If the couple hit 21 exactly, they won a cash jackpot and a car (Except in Las Vegas Gambit. No car.) In Las Vegas Gambit, the couple couldn't stop until their hand totalled 17 or higher.

During LVG, the bonus round was changed around to mimic the show High Rollers (also produced by Heatter-Quigley.) The couple rolled a pair of dice, and then eliminated the numbers 1 through 10 based on the total they rolled. For instance, if the couple rolled a 7, they could eliminate the 6 and 1; the 5 and 2; the 1, 2, and 4; or any other combination that added to 7. Each number they knocked off won money, while not being able to knock off a number with the total they rolled stopped the game. Knocking off all 9 numbers (1-9) won the couple a larger cash prize.

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Source: All information on gameplay, announcers, etc. was gathered from http://loogslair.com/gameshow/rules/gambit.html .

Gam"bit (?), n. [F. gambit, cf. It. gambitto gambit, a tripping up. See Gambol, n.] Chess Playing

A mode of opening the game, in which a pawn is sacrificed to gain an attacking position.

<-- Hence, Fig. any stratagem; in conversation, a remark, often prepared in advance, calculated to provoke discussion, amuse, or make a point = a conversational gambit -->

 

© Webster 1913.