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Fide-chess has not been beaten to death. It is the *openings* which have
been beaten to death. The King's gambit is a case in point. This
development took place many decades ago. People realized it was no use to
play the King's gambit, anymore. Spassky, heroically, took it up again,
but after his game against Ornstein in 1974, he declared that 'this was my
last King's gambit'. I predict that in the coming decades GM:s are going
to say 'this was my last Ruy Lopez.' When the main variations (c3 + d4)
in Ruy Lopez are being abandoned, then chess is in a very critical
situation. 

When the King's gambit died, it was a big tragedy, but we could still cope
with the loss. But we can't do without the main variation in Ruy Lopez.
After all, we can't fall back on Four Knights. The opening stage in chess
is more and more becoming a straitjacket. The choices are narrowed down
because systems are cut away where White cannot achieve much. Can White, at
the top level, really squeeze something out of Ruy Lopez, Marshall gambit?
Is there any point in trying to achieve something against the Russian
defence, or should he make a concession and play Qe2? Many people today
play 'inferior' variations (like d3 in Ruy Lopez) in order to avoid
preparation, because they know it's no use to grapple with the Marshall
gambit, for instance. This occurs on amateur level, too. I think we are
heading toward an acute crisis in the coming decades.
/Mats