Staunton Gambit
Encyclopedia
The Staunton Gambit is a chess
opening
characterized by the moves:
White sacrifices a pawn for quick development, hoping to launch an attack against Black's kingside, which has been somewhat weakened by 1...f5.
Black can decline the gambit with 2...d6, transposing to the Balogh Defence; or 2...e6, transposing to the Kingston Defence
. But accepting the pawn with 2...fxe4 is considered stronger than transposing to either of those offbeat defenses.
Although the Staunton Gambit was once a feared weapon for White, it is rarely played today, since theory has shown how to neutralize it, and White scores only about 50 percent.
The ECO
codes for Staunton Gambit are A82 and A83.
against Bernhard Horwitz
in London
, 1846. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001250
After 4.Bg5, a common trap is 4...d5? 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxd5 Qxd5 8.Nxd5 when White has regained his pawn, and since his knight is attacking the pawns on both c7 and f6, will come out a pawn ahead. Instead, Black usually tries to develop quickly and fortify his kingside, giving back the pawn if necessary, with 4...Nc6 5.d5 (White can regain the pawn with 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Nxe4, but Black has the bishop pair and a solid position) 5...Ne5 6.Qd4 Nf7, while 6.Qe2 is a modern alternative.
, whereupon White gets good compensation after 4...exf3. So Black generally plays 4...d5! 5.fxe4 dxe4. Black can also try 4...e3, returning the pawn in order to hinder White's development.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
opening
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...
characterized by the moves:
- 1. d4 f5 (the Dutch DefenceDutch DefenceThe Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:Elias Stein , an Alsatian who settled in The Hague, recommended the defence as the best reply to 1.d4 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu.-Theory:Black's 1.....
) - 2. e4!?
White sacrifices a pawn for quick development, hoping to launch an attack against Black's kingside, which has been somewhat weakened by 1...f5.
Black can decline the gambit with 2...d6, transposing to the Balogh Defence; or 2...e6, transposing to the Kingston Defence
Kingston Defence
The Kingston Defence or Franco-Dutch Defence is an uncommon chess opening. It is characterised by the opening moves:giving the position at right. . Its ECO classification is C01.The first record of the defence being played is Schiffers-Chigorin, 1880...
. But accepting the pawn with 2...fxe4 is considered stronger than transposing to either of those offbeat defenses.
Although the Staunton Gambit was once a feared weapon for White, it is rarely played today, since theory has shown how to neutralize it, and White scores only about 50 percent.
The ECO
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...
codes for Staunton Gambit are A82 and A83.
Main line (4. Bg5)
The main line runs 4.Bg5, first played by Howard StauntonHoward Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
against Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz was a German English chess master and chess writer.Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz, and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part of a group of German chess players known as "The Pleiades".He moved to London in 1845...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1846. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001250
After 4.Bg5, a common trap is 4...d5? 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxd5 Qxd5 8.Nxd5 when White has regained his pawn, and since his knight is attacking the pawns on both c7 and f6, will come out a pawn ahead. Instead, Black usually tries to develop quickly and fortify his kingside, giving back the pawn if necessary, with 4...Nc6 5.d5 (White can regain the pawn with 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Nxe4, but Black has the bishop pair and a solid position) 5...Ne5 6.Qd4 Nf7, while 6.Qe2 is a modern alternative.
4. f3
White can also try 4.f3 in the style of the Blackmar-Diemer GambitBlackmar-Diemer Gambit
The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit is a chess opening characterized by the moves:- History :The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit arose as a development of the earlier Blackmar Gambit, named after Armand Blackmar, a relatively little-known New Orleans player of the late 19th century who popularized its...
, whereupon White gets good compensation after 4...exf3. So Black generally plays 4...d5! 5.fxe4 dxe4. Black can also try 4...e3, returning the pawn in order to hinder White's development.