White plays 2.e4
The Staunton Gambit: 4.Bg5
1
23
4
5
6
7
8h
g
f
e
dcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
Chapter 6 of 7
Gambits and sharp tries
Club Dutch players score their worst results against gambits: 42% against the Staunton. Know which pawns to take and which to ignore.
White offers a pawn to open lines against your king before you have castled. Against e4 gambits, take: the Staunton (2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6) and the Lisitsin (1.Nf3 f5 2.e4 fxe4) give White play, but you are fine if you know the key moves: 4…g6 against Bg5, …d5 against f3.
Against the flank tries 2.g4 and 2.h3, don't grab: 2…d5 takes the centre and scores clearly better at club level (50–52%) than taking on g4 or playing 2…Nf6.
At a glance
2.e4 (Staunton)
2…fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 g6. Against f3, …d5, never …exf3.
2.g4 and 2.h3
2…d5. Take the centre; the pawn on g4 can wait.
1.Nf3 f5 2.e4
The Lisitsin Gambit: 2…fxe4 3.Ng5 Nf6, then …d5 or …e5.
Key ideas
123
4
5
6
78hg
fedcbaTake the e-pawn, then give it back well
In the Staunton, the extra pawn on e4 is not worth everything. Hold it while it is safe, but when White wins it back, make sure you have developed in the meantime: …g6, …Bg7, …d5 and …Nc6.
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcbaCentre before flank
Against 2.g4 and 2.h3, White wants to open lines on the kingside. Answer in the centre with …d5: the pawn on g4 can be taken later, and White's own king has lost its cover.
From history
Staunton's gambit
Howard Staunton, the leading English player of the 1840s, introduced 2.e4 in his 1846 match against Bernhard Horwitz in London. He won the match comfortably. Staunton is better remembered today for the chess pieces named after him, and for the match he never played: Paul Morphy came to England in 1858, and the two never agreed terms.
A joker's gambit
2.g4 is named after Josef Krejcik, a Viennese master who won many brilliancy prizes but no tournaments, and is best known for his humorous chess books.
Lisitsin's gambit
Georgy Lisitsin made 1.Nf3 f5 2.e4 known when he played it in the first round of the 1931 USSR Championship, and he tried it against Mikhail Botvinnik two years later in Leningrad.
The lines
Click a move or use the arrows. Highlighted moves carry a note, and under each note you'll find the other moves played from that position, including the tempting mistakes. The number under the board is Stockfish's evaluation from your side: minus means your opponent is better.
1278hgfedcbaWhite plays 2.Nc3 and 3.e4
The Staunton by 2.Nc3
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 2.g4
The Krejcik Gambit: 2.g4 d5
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 2.h3
2.h3: …d5 first
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 1.Nf3 and 2.e4
The Lisitsin Gambit
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 3.f3
The Balogh: 3.f3
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 4.f3
4.f3: …d5
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 3.Bf4
3.Bf4: a London with h3
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 3.Ne5
3.Ne5
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 4.Nc3
4.Nc3
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
White plays 4.Bc4
4.Bc4
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba−0.4
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
A model game
Master games from the Lichess database, with the engine's evaluation under the board.
Against the Staunton Gambit, Francisco Vallejo Pons chooses the sharpest answer to 4.Bg5: 4…Nc6. After 5.d5 Ne5 the knight is safe, Black keeps the extra pawn for a long time, and grabs another one when White castles long.
Spanish Championship · 0-1
Del Rio de Angelis, S. – Vallejo Pons, F., 2016
123
4
5
6
78hgfedcba0.0
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
- 37.
- 38.
Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.
Take these into your games
Take the e-pawn
Against e4 gambits, take with …fxe4: declining usually costs a pawn's worth of position.
Centre before flank
Against g4 and h3, answer in the centre with …d5.
Close the h5–e8 diagonal
Most gambits aim at Qh5+. …g6, …Nf6 or …e6 at the right moment shuts it.