FoxyChess › Gambits › Martian Gambit
Martian Gambit
A White gambit against the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng5 Bg6 6.N1f3 h6 7.Ne6!?. White gives a knight to break open e6 and f7 and attack Black's king.
The idea
A White gambit against the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng5 Bg6 6.N1f3 h6 7.Ne6!? The knight goes to e6 on purpose: after 7…fxe6 8.Ne5 Black's bishop on g6 is in trouble and White's queen is coming to h5 or g4. Black's king is stuck in the centre with the e-file open.
What happens next
After 7…fxe6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Qg4 White attacks e6 and g7 at once and brings the bishop to d3 or c4. Castling long and using the d-file is the follow-up. If Black declines with 7…Qd6 or 7…Qb6, White takes on g7 or f8 with a good game.
How to play against it
Black's most solid reply is 7…Qd6 8.Nxf8 Qxf8 or 7…Qb6, giving the bishop pair back rather than taking on e6. After 7…fxe6 Black has to find 8…Bf7 and then …Nf6 and …g6 to hold the position; it's playable but not pleasant.
A key line
More lines
10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.Nxf7 Kxf7 …
10.Qe2 Nd5 11.Qf3 Nf6 …
12.Bf4 Qd7 13.h4 Na6 …
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All 7 lines in this gambit
- 9.Bc4 Nd7 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 …
- 10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.Nxf7 Kxf7 …
- 10.Qe2 Nd5 11.Qf3 Nf6 …
- 12.Bf4 Qd7 13.h4 Na6 …
- 12.Bf4 Qxf4 13.Qxe6+ Kg6 …
- 9.Bc4 c5 10.Bxe6 Bxe6 …
- 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bc4 Nd7 …