Danish Gambit
Encyclopedia
The Danish Gambit, known as the (Nordic Gambit) in German, and the (Northern Gambit) in Dutch, is a chess opening
that begins with the moves:
White will sacrifice one or two pawns for the sake of rapid development and the attack. However, with care, Black can accept one or both pawns safely, or simply decline the gambit altogether with good chances.
Although it may have been known earlier, Danish
player Martin Severin From
essayed the gambit
in the Paris 1867 chess tournament
and he is usually given credit for the opening. The Danish Gambit was popular with masters of the attack including Alekhine
, Marshall, Blackburne
, and Mieses
, but as more defensive lines for Black were discovered and improved, it lost favor in the 1920s. Today it is rarely played in top-level chess.
with his gambit in London, 1864. It is possible, that Severin From met Lindehn in Paris in this period and learned about the gambit there. According to Graham Burgess, in Denmark
itself, the opening is called the Nordic Gambit.
Many games transposed to the Göring Gambit, as Nf3 for White and ...Nc6 for Black are very logical moves. As Carl Theodor Göring also used to play the double gambit, there was hardly any difference.
Remarkably enough, the idea to sacrifice just one pawn (Nxc3) is older in the Göring Gambit than in the Danish. Paul Morphy
encountered it at the first USA-Congress of 1857 against Alexander Meek. In the Danish, especially Alexander Alekhine applied 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3, but on unimportant occasions.
that is important enough to be treated on its own.
It is C21 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
classification.
After 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3, Black can safely decline the gambit with 3...d6, 3...Qe7, or 3...d5 (Sörensen Defense or Capablanca Defence). If Black enters the Danish Gambit Accepted with 3...dxc3, the main possibilities are
Alekhine recommended that White play 4.Nxc3. This line often transposes into the Göring Gambit of the Scotch Game
. There are only few lines with Black omitting ...Nc6 and/or White omitting Nf3. This move order enables White to avoid the critical main line of the Göring Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Bb4) by keeping open the option of meeting an early ...Bb4 by developing the king's knight to e2 rather than f3 and thus preventing Black from disrupting White's queenside pawn structure, as Alekhine did in his game against Pomar above.
White can instead offer a second pawn with 4.Bc4. The second pawn can be safely declined by transposing into the Scotch Gambit.
Accepting the pawn allows White's two bishops to rake the Black kingside after 4...cxb2 5.Bxb2. White will often follow up with Qb3 if possible, applying pressure on Black's b7 and f7 squares. Combined with White's long diagonal pressure on g7, this can make it difficult for Black to develop his bishops.
Schlechter recommended one of the most reliable defenses for Black: by returning one of the pawns with 5...d5 Black gains time to complete development. After 6.Bxd5 Nf6 (Bb4+ is also possible) 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 c5, Black regains the queen. Most theorists evaluate this position as equal, but some believe that the queenside majority gives Black the advantage in the endgame.The popularity of the Danish plummeted after Schlechter's defense was introduced as the resulting positions are not what White generally desires from a gambit opening. There have been attempts, especially by German correspondence player Ingo Firnhaber, to revive the gambit idea with 7.Nc3, but according to Karsten Muller and Martin Voigt in Danish Dynamite, this line gives insufficient compensation after 7...Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Nbd7 (8...c6?? 9.Nf6+) 9.Nf3 c6, since the piece sacrifice 10.0-0 is dubious on account of 10...cxd5 11.exd5 Be7! If White instead plays 6.exd5, his light-square bishop is blocked and after 6...Nf6 7.Nc3 Bd6 Black can complete development relatively easily.
The big advantage of Göring's move order (Nf3 first, before c3) is avoiding Schlechter's defence, since after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc4 cxb2 6.Bxb2 Black cannot safely play 6...d5 with the queen's knight committed to c6. The big advantage of 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 is the option to meet 3...d5 with 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 instead of 6.Nf3 transposing to the Göring Gambit Declined (the main objection being the Capablanca Variation, 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4, when White must exchange queens or give up castling rights). It also has the advantage of avoiding Blacks other options after 2.Nf3.
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
that begins with the moves:
- 1. e4 e5
- 2. d4 exd4
- 3. c3
White will sacrifice one or two pawns for the sake of rapid development and the attack. However, with care, Black can accept one or both pawns safely, or simply decline the gambit altogether with good chances.
Although it may have been known earlier, Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
player Martin Severin From
Martin Severin From
Martin Severin Janus From was a Danish chess master.Born in Nakskov, From received his first education at the grammar school of Nykøbing Falster...
essayed the gambit
Gambit
A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...
in the Paris 1867 chess tournament
Paris 1867 chess tournament
World exhibitions became a new phenomenon in the West in the nineteenth century. Scientific and technical progress were shown. Ten World Fairs were organised during the second half of the nineteenth century. Seven times an international chess tournament was part of the event...
and he is usually given credit for the opening. The Danish Gambit was popular with masters of the attack including Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, Marshall, Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
, and Mieses
Jacques Mieses
----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:...
, but as more defensive lines for Black were discovered and improved, it lost favor in the 1920s. Today it is rarely played in top-level chess.
History
From the very beginning the nomenclature of the Danish Gambit was very confusing. The idea stems from a famous correspondence game London-Edinburgh, 1824: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 Qe7 6.0-0 dxc3 7.Nxc3. The Swede Hans Lindehn played 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 on a regular basis from 1857 at latest. He defeated the later World Champion Wilhelm SteinitzWilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
with his gambit in London, 1864. It is possible, that Severin From met Lindehn in Paris in this period and learned about the gambit there. According to Graham Burgess, in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
itself, the opening is called the Nordic Gambit.
Many games transposed to the Göring Gambit, as Nf3 for White and ...Nc6 for Black are very logical moves. As Carl Theodor Göring also used to play the double gambit, there was hardly any difference.
Remarkably enough, the idea to sacrifice just one pawn (Nxc3) is older in the Göring Gambit than in the Danish. Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
encountered it at the first USA-Congress of 1857 against Alexander Meek. In the Danish, especially Alexander Alekhine applied 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3, but on unimportant occasions.
Main variations
The Danish Gambit is a variation of the Center GameCenter Game
The Center Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The game usually continues 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing with a gain of tempo due to the attack on the white queen....
that is important enough to be treated on its own.
It is C21 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
classification.
After 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3, Black can safely decline the gambit with 3...d6, 3...Qe7, or 3...d5 (Sörensen Defense or Capablanca Defence). If Black enters the Danish Gambit Accepted with 3...dxc3, the main possibilities are
4.Nxc3 (Alekhine Variation)
- 4...d6 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.Nf3 (Göring Gambit, by transpositionTransposition (chess)A transposition in chess is a sequence of moves that results in a position which may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves...
) - 4...Bc5 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.Nf3 (Göring Gambit, by transposition)
- 4...Nc6 5.Bc4 and 6.Nf3 (Göring Gambit, by transposition)
- 4...Bb4 5.Bc4 (5.Qd4 is an independent option) Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Ne2 Alekhine-Pomar, clock simul Madrid 1943
4.Bc4 (Lindehn's continuation)
- 4...d6 5.Nxc3 (also Göring Gambit, by transposition)
- 4...cxb2 5.Bxb2 (Danish Gambit Accepted, see diagram)
- 5...Bb4+ 6.Kf1 or 6.Nc3
- 5...d6 6.Qb3
- 5...d5 (SchlechterCarl SchlechterCarl Schlechter was a leading Austrian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.-Early life:...
Defense)
Alekhine recommended that White play 4.Nxc3. This line often transposes into the Göring Gambit of the Scotch Game
Scotch Game
The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5...
. There are only few lines with Black omitting ...Nc6 and/or White omitting Nf3. This move order enables White to avoid the critical main line of the Göring Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Bb4) by keeping open the option of meeting an early ...Bb4 by developing the king's knight to e2 rather than f3 and thus preventing Black from disrupting White's queenside pawn structure, as Alekhine did in his game against Pomar above.
White can instead offer a second pawn with 4.Bc4. The second pawn can be safely declined by transposing into the Scotch Gambit.
Accepting the pawn allows White's two bishops to rake the Black kingside after 4...cxb2 5.Bxb2. White will often follow up with Qb3 if possible, applying pressure on Black's b7 and f7 squares. Combined with White's long diagonal pressure on g7, this can make it difficult for Black to develop his bishops.
Schlechter recommended one of the most reliable defenses for Black: by returning one of the pawns with 5...d5 Black gains time to complete development. After 6.Bxd5 Nf6 (Bb4+ is also possible) 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 c5, Black regains the queen. Most theorists evaluate this position as equal, but some believe that the queenside majority gives Black the advantage in the endgame.The popularity of the Danish plummeted after Schlechter's defense was introduced as the resulting positions are not what White generally desires from a gambit opening. There have been attempts, especially by German correspondence player Ingo Firnhaber, to revive the gambit idea with 7.Nc3, but according to Karsten Muller and Martin Voigt in Danish Dynamite, this line gives insufficient compensation after 7...Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Nbd7 (8...c6?? 9.Nf6+) 9.Nf3 c6, since the piece sacrifice 10.0-0 is dubious on account of 10...cxd5 11.exd5 Be7! If White instead plays 6.exd5, his light-square bishop is blocked and after 6...Nf6 7.Nc3 Bd6 Black can complete development relatively easily.
The big advantage of Göring's move order (Nf3 first, before c3) is avoiding Schlechter's defence, since after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc4 cxb2 6.Bxb2 Black cannot safely play 6...d5 with the queen's knight committed to c6. The big advantage of 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 is the option to meet 3...d5 with 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 instead of 6.Nf3 transposing to the Göring Gambit Declined (the main objection being the Capablanca Variation, 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4, when White must exchange queens or give up castling rights). It also has the advantage of avoiding Blacks other options after 2.Nf3.
External links
- McGrew, Tim (2003). The Gambit Cartel: Danish Pastry (pdf). ChessCafe.com.
- Opening Report: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 (2086 games)