Danish Gambit
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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | 1867 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Danish player Martin Severin From | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Center Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Nordic Gambit Norwegian Gambit |
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The Danish Gambit, known as the Nordisches Gambit (Nordic Gambit) in German, and the Noors Gambiet (Norwegian Gambit) in Dutch, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
White will sacrifice one or two pawns for the sake of rapid development and the attack. However, with care, Black can accept one or both pawns safely, or simply decline the gambit altogether with good chances.
Although it may have been known earlier, Danish player Martin Severin From essayed the gambit in the Paris 1867 tournament and he is usually given credit for the opening. The Danish Gambit was popular with masters of the attack including Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne, and Mieses, but as more defensive lines for Black were discovered and improved, it lost favor in the 1920s. Today it is rarely played in top-level chess.
From the very beginning the nomenclature of the Danish Gambit was very confusing. The idea stems from a famous correspondence game London–Edinburgh, 1824: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 Qe7 6.0-0 dxc3 7.Nxc3. The Swede Hans Lindehn played 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 on a regular basis from 1857 at the latest. He defeated the later World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz with his gambit in London, 1864. It is possible, that Severin From met Lindehn in Paris in this period and learned about the gambit there. According to Graham Burgess, in Denmark itself, the opening is called the Nordic Gambit.
Many games transposed to the Göring Gambit, as Nf3 for White and Nc6 for Black are logical moves. As Carl Theodor Göring also used to play the double gambit, there was hardly any difference.
Remarkably enough, the idea to sacrifice just one pawn (Nxc3) is older in the Göring Gambit than in the Danish. Paul Morphy encountered it at the first USA-Congress of 1857 against Alexander Meek. In the Danish, especially Alexander Alekhine applied 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3, but on unimportant occasions.
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Wikipedia