chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, the Wing Gambit is an

opening Opening may refer to: Types of openings * Hole * A title sequence or opening credits * Grand opening of a business or other institution * Inauguration * Keynote * Opening sentence * Opening sequence * Opening statement, a beginning statemen ...

in which White plays an early b4, deflecting an enemy

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pa ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

from c5 so as to regain control of d4, an important central square. Or an opening in which Black plays an early ...b5. The most common Wing Gambit is in the

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...

(1.e4 c5 2.b4). The most important Wing Gambit is the

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 attacking line of the Giuoco Piano. White offers a pawn to divert the black bishop on c5. If Black accepts, W ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4), treated separately.

Against the Sicilian Defence

The Wing Gambit in the

runs 1.e4 c5 2.b4. After Black takes with 2...cxb4, the usual continuation is 3.a3 bxa3 (3...d5 is more recently considered superior, when White must avoid 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.axb4 Qe5+ winning the rook, a blunder actually seen in tournament play in Shirazi–Peters, Berkeley 1984; instead 5.Nf3 is better) and now the main line is 4.Nxa3, though 4.Bxa3 and 4.d4 are also seen. It is also possible to decline (or at least delay acceptance of) the gambit with 2...d5. For his pawn, White gets quicker and a central advantage, but it is not generally considered one of White's better choices against the Sicilian and it is virtually never seen at the professional level. Amongst amateurs it is more common, though still not so popular as other systems. After Black's 2...cxb4, another popular third move alternative for White is 3.d4. Grandmasters George Koltanowski,

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 195 ...

and World Champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

have played this line. White can postpone the gambit one move by playing the Wing Gambit Deferred, playing 2.Nf3 followed by 3.b4. The deferred Wing Gambit is considered to be best when Black responds 2...e6.Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Joe Gallagher, 1994, The Portsmouth Gambit runs 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4, where Black is disinclined to refuse the gambit due to the positional threat 4.b5, displacing the knight and disrupting Black's smooth development. It is also possible to prepare the gambit by playing 2.a3 followed by 3.b4.

Against the French Defence

The Wing Gambit can also be played against the

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

, although this is largely refuted at the grandmaster level. One line, as popularised by Gotham Chess, goes 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4, and Black often takes cxb4, followed by White's a3 with a further gambit of a pawn in exchange for quick development of the minor pieces, and/or d4 and c3 to solidify the . Black usually plays Nf6 at some point, and White often chooses to play aggressively on the , with the option of not castling and keeping the rook on the h-file to support a pawn storm.

In the Benoni Defence

Black offers the b-pawn in the

Benko Gambit The Benko Gambit (or Volga Gambit) is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defence arising after: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4, d4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6, Nf6 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. ...

: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5.

In other openings

A related idea is found in the

Caro–Kann Defence The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 c6 The Caro–Kann is a common defence against 1.e4. It is classified as a Semi-Open Game, like the Sicilian Defence and French Defence, although it is thought to b ...

after 1.e4 c6 2.Ne2 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4; however, Black can immediately achieve an advantage by playing 4...d4! (this move is also strong in the second French line given above). Even rarer is the Wing Gambit in the

Bishop's Opening The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Bc4 White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing the d-pawn to d5. By ignoring the beginner's maxim "develop knights before bishops", White ...

, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4, which has some resemblance to the

. There are several other "Wing Gambits" in various openings, but they are rare and not as notable as the openings mentioned above: * In the

English Opening The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move: : 1. c4 A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins ...

: 1.c4 c5 2.b4, or 1.c4 b5 (the Jaenisch Gambit) * In the Marshall Gambit of the

Scandinavian Defence The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense, or Center Counter Game) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. e4 d5 This opening is classified under code B01 in the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings''. The Scandinavian Def ...

: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 g6 4.c4 b5 * In the

Ware Opening The Ware Opening, also known as Meadow Hay Opening, is an uncommon chess opening for White beginning with the move: : 1. a4 It is named after Preston Ware, a U.S. chess player who often played uncommon openings. The Ware is considered an irreg ...

: 1.a4 b5 2.axb5 Bb7

Illustrative games

Lutz vs. de Firmian,

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

1993
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5! 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Nb5 Qd8 10.Nxe5 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Qf3 Bd7 13.Nd4 0-0 14.Ba6 Qc7 15.h3 c5 16.Nf5 Qe5 17.Ne3 Bd6 18.Be2 Bc7 19.Nc4 Qe6 20.Qe3 Ne4 21.0-0 Rfe8 22.Bd3 f5 23.Re1 Qd5 24.Qf3 Bb5 25.Nb2 c4 26.Bf1 Bb6 27.Nd1 f4 28.Qxf4 Nxf2 29.Ne3 Nd3 30.Bxd3 Qxd3 31.Kh1 Re4 32.Qg5 Bc6 33.Bb2 Qxd2 34.Rad1 Rxe3 25.Rxd2 Rxh3#

References

Sources

* Sicilian Wing Gambit / Roman Blahut, 2018 / 268 p.

External links

The Portsmouth Gambit
A little known retreat in the Wing Gambit Chess openings {{Chess-stub