A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...

in which a player

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe similar tactics used by politicians or business people in a struggle with rivals in their respective fields, for example: "The early election was a risky gambit by

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

Terminology

The word "gambit" was originally applied to chess openings in 1561 by Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, from an Italian expression ''dare il gambetto'' (to put a leg forward in order to trip someone). López studied this maneuver, and so the Italian word gained the Spanish form ''gambito'' that led to French ''gambit'', which has influenced the English spelling of the word. The broader sense of "opening move meant to gain advantage" was first recorded in English in 1855. Gambits are most commonly played by

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

. Some well-known examples of a gambit are the

King's Gambit The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit ...

(1.e4 e5 2.f4) and

Evans Gambit The Evans Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 :4. b4 The Evans Gambit is an aggressive line of the Giuoco Piano. White offers a pawn to divert the black bishop on c5. If Black accepts, ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4). A gambit employed by Black may also be named a gambit, e.g. the

Latvian Gambit The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 f5 It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 17th century by Gioachino Greco, after whom it is sometimes ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5), or Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5); but is sometimes named a "countergambit", e.g. the

Albin Countergambit The Albin Countergambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e5 and the usual continuation is: :3. dxe5 d4 The opening is an uncommon defense to the Queen's Gambit. In exchange for the gambit pawn, Black has a c ...

(1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5) and

Greco Countergambit The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 f5 It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 17th century by Gioachino Greco, after whom it is sometimes ...

(the original name for the Latvian Gambit). Not all opening lines involving the sacrifice of material are named as gambits, for example the main line of the

Two Knights Defence The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5) in which Black sacrifices a pawn for active play is known as the "Knorre Variation", though it may be ''described'' as a "gambit". On the other hand, the

Queen's Gambit The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a '' gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the ...

(1.d4 d5 2.c4) is not a true gambit as Black cannot hold the pawn without incurring a disadvantage. As is often the case with chess openings, nomenclature is inconsistent.

Strategy

Gambits are described as being "offered" to an opponent, and that offer is then said to be either "accepted" or "declined". In modern chess, the typical response to a moderately sound gambit is to accept the material and give the material back at an advantageous time. For gambits that are less sound, the accepting player is more likely to try to hold on to their extra material. A rule of thumb often found in various primers on chess suggests that a player should get three moves (see

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

) of for a sacrificed pawn, but it is unclear how useful this general maxim is since the "free moves" part of the compensation is almost never the entirety of what the gambiteer gains. Often, a gambit can be declined with no disadvantage.

Soundness

A gambit is said to be 'sound' if it is capable of procuring adequate concessions from the opponent. There are three general criteria in which a gambit is often said to be sound: # Time gain: the player accepting the gambit must take time to procure the sacrificed material and possibly must use more time to reorganize their pieces after the material is taken. # Generation of differential activity: often a player accepting a gambit will decentralize their pieces or pawns and their poorly placed pieces will allow the gambiteer to place their own pieces and pawns on squares that might otherwise have been inaccessible. In addition, bishops and rooks can become more active simply because the loss of pawns often gives rise to open and . Former world champion

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

once reportedly told

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

that he had sacrificed a pawn because it was simply in the way. # Generation of positional weaknesses: finally, accepting a gambit may lead to a compromised pawn structure, holes or other positional deficiencies. An example of a sound gambit is the

Scotch Gambit The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. d4 Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise ''Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese'' ("On t ...

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4. Here Black can force White to sacrifice a pawn speculatively with 4...Bb4+, but White gets very good compensation for one pawn after 5.c3 dxc3 6.bxc3, or for two pawns after 6.0-0 inviting 6...cxb2 7.Bxb2, due to the development advantage and attacking chances against the black king. As a result, Black is often advised not to try to hold on to the extra pawn. A more dubious gambit is the so-called Halloween Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4. Here the investment (a knight for just one pawn) is too large for the moderate advantage of having a strong center.

Examples

: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 *

: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 *

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 * Rousseau Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f5 * Smith–Morra Gambit: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 intending 2. ..cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 *

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 with 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 likely to follow *

Blackmar–Diemer Gambit The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit (or BDG) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. e4 dxe4 :3. Nc3 where White intends to follow up with f2–f3, usually on the fourth move. White obtains a tempo and a half-open f-file in re ...

(BDG): 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 followed by 4.f3 * From's Gambit: 1.f4 e5 * Staunton Gambit: 1.d4 f5 2.e4 * Budapest Gambit: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 *

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 *

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 *

Danish Gambit The Danish Gambit, known as the ' in German and the ' in Dutch (both meaning Nordic Gambit), is a chess opening 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 and the att ...

: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3. c3 * Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 :This is not a true gambit by Black, since after 4.Nxe5 Qg5 Black wins material. White can play a gambit themselves with 5.Bxf7+! Ke7 6.0-0! Qxe5 7.Bxg8 Rxg8 8.c3 Nc6 9.d4, when White's two pawns and rolling pawn center, combined with Black's misplaced king, give White strong compensation for the sacrificed bishop. *

Elephant Gambit The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queen's Pawn Countergambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 d5 Although the Elephant Gambit is considered unsound, it has been used fr ...

: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!? * Englund Gambit: 1.d4 e5?! *

Italian Gambit The Italian Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 :4. d4 It is often played as an alternative to the quiet and closed lines of the Giuoco Piano or Giuoco Pianissimo openings. Black can: * ...

: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d4 * Fried Liver Attack: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 *

: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 * Benko Gambit: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 * Milner Barry Gambit: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.Nc3 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 *

Vienna Gambit The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nc3 White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also more recent. The original idea behind the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit with ...

: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4

Terminology

Strategy

Soundness

Examples

Notes

Further reading

External links