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Stafford Gambit

Gambit54 linesYou play Black

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6. Black gives the e-pawn for fast development and open lines. White must play accurately, because many natural moves walk into quick traps.

Stafford Gambit after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6

The idea

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 offers a knight for a pawn's worth of development: after 4.Nxc6 dxc6 Black's bishops point at f2 and g4, the queen can come to d4 or e7, and …Ng4 followed by …Qh4 appears in many lines. Objectively dubious, but full of traps that catch anyone who develops carelessly.

What happens next

Black's set-ups include …Bc5, …Ng4 and …Qh4, with ideas like …Nxf2 or …Qxf2 when f2 is weakly defended. A white knight on c3 and bishop on e2 are the usual targets. If White plays passively Black often wins outright in under twenty moves.

How to play against it

The clean refutation is 5.d3! Bc5 6.Be2 h5 7.c3 (or 6…Ng4 7.Bxg4), and White keeps the extra pawn with a solid centre. Avoid 5.Nc3? and 5.e5?, which run into …Nxe4 and …Ne4 ideas. Don't grab a second pawn before your king is safe.

A key line

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.Qxe7+ Bxe7 8.dxc3 d6

More lines

9...Bxf2+ 10.Kh1 Qg3 11.hxg4 …
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bc4 Ng4 7.O-O Qh4 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.h3 Bxf2+ 10.Kh1 Qg3 11.hxg4 Qh4#
9...Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 11.Kh1 …
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bc4 Ng4 7.O-O Qh4 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.h3 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 11.Kh1 Qh4
7...Qh4 8.Qe2 Qxh2#
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bc4 Ng4 7.O-O Qh4 8.Qe2 Qxh2#
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All 54 lines in this gambit

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