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Elephant Gambit: 3.exd5 and others

Gambit21 linesYou play Black

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5, plus White's other third moves. Black often plays 3...e4, gaining space and chasing the knight, for quick development.

Elephant Gambit: 3.exd5 and others after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5

The idea

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 hits the centre at once. After 3.exd5 Black can play 3…e4, gaining space and driving the knight back, or 3…Bd6 keeping the e-pawn. The idea is to seize the initiative before White has castled, at the cost of a pawn.

What happens next

After 3.exd5 e4 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Black develops with …Be7 and castles; the d5 pawn is often regained later. The 3…Bd6 line leads to a cramped but solid position where Black plays …Nf6, …O-O and …Nbd7.

How to play against it

3.exd5 is the main line and gives White a comfortable extra pawn: after 3…e4 4.Qe2 is the accurate reply, and after 3…Bd6 4.d4 e4 5.Ne5 keeps control. 3.Nxe5 is also good.

A key line

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 f6 5.Ng3 Be6 6.d3 g6 7.Be2 Nh6 8.O-O Nf7 9.c3 c5 10.cxd4 cxd4 11.Nd2 Nd7 12.f4 exf4 13.Rxf4 Bh6

More lines

6...g6 7.c3 c5 8.cxd4 …
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 f6 5.Ng3 Be6 6.d3 g6 7.c3 c5 8.cxd4 cxd4 9.Be2 Nh6
5...Qd6 6.Ne4 Qe7 7.g3 …
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 Nc6 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qd6 6.Ne4 Qe7 7.g3 Bg4 8.Bg2 f5 9.Nc3 O-O-O 10.O-O e4
5...Qd6 6.g3 Bf5 7.Bg2 …
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 Nc6 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qd6 6.g3 Bf5 7.Bg2 Qd7 8.O-O O-O-O 9.Re1 f6 10.Be3 Bh3 11.Bh1 h5 12.Ne4 Nh6 13.Nc5 Bxc5 14.Bxc5 b6 15.Be3 Nf5
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All 21 lines in this gambit

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