The Staunton Gambit is a
chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1.
d4 f5 (the
Dutch Defence)
:2.
e4!?
White sacrifices a pawn for quick development, hoping to launch an attack against Black's , which has been somewhat weakened by 1...f5. Black can decline the gambit with 2...d6, transposing to the
Balogh Defence, but accepting the pawn with 2...fxe4 is considered stronger.
Although the Staunton Gambit was once a feared weapon for White, it is rarely played today, since theory has shown how to neutralise it, and White scores only about 50 percent.
The ''
ECO'' codes for Staunton Gambit are A82 and A83.
Gambit accepted
After 2...fxe4, play usually proceeds 3.Nc3 Nf6.
Main line: 4.Bg5
The main line runs 4.Bg5, first played by
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Ama ...
against
Bernhard Horwitz in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 1846.
Howard Staunton vs. Bernhard Horwitz, London 1846
Chessgames.com
Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pla ...
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 after 6...Qe7, White has no good way to defend the knight. Everything except for 7.Qe2 allows ...d5 or ...f5, winning a piece, while after the forcing 7.Qe2 Nxd4 8.Qd3 d5 9.Qxd4 Qxe4+ 10.Qxe4 dxe4, Black has an extra pawn and for no compensation, and should win with best play.) 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 Gambit, 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.
4.g4?!
4.g4?! (the Bayonet Attack or Tartakower Variation) fails to provide enough compensation after 4...h6!
4.Qh5+?
4.Qh5+? delivers a check that can only be stopped by 4...g6. White can then continue with 5.Be2, which will lead to checkmate if black takes the queen with 5...gxh5?? 6.Bxh5#. However, this is not likely to happen in higher-level games.
See also
* List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organized by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () code. In 1966, Chess Informant categorized the chess openings into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken down into one hundred subcat ...
* List of chess openings named after people
''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening is not always that of the first player to adopt it; often an opening is nam ...
References
External links
{{Wikibooks, Chess Opening Theory, 1. d4/1...f5/2. e4, Staunton Gambit
The Staunton Gambit 1.d4 f5 2.e4
Chess openings
1846 in chess