Falkbeer Countergambit

Falkbeer Countergambit

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5
ECO	C31
Named after	Ernst Falkbeer
Parent	King's Gambit

The Falkbeer Countergambit is a chess opening that begins:

In this aggressive countergambit, Black disdains the pawn offered as a sacrifice, instead opening the centre to exploit White's weakness on the kingside. After the standard capture, 3.exd5, Black may reply with 3...exf4, transposing into the King's Gambit Accepted, 3...e4, or the more modern 3...c6.

A well known blunder in this opening is White's reply 3.fxe5??, which after 3...Qh4+, either loses material after 4.g3 Qxe4+, forking the king and rook, or severely exposes the white king to the black pieces after 4.Ke2 Qxe4+ 5.Kf2 Bc5+.

The opening bears the name of Austrian master Ernst Falkbeer, who played it in an 1851 game against Adolf Anderssen. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) codes for the Falkbeer Countergambit are C31 and C32.

In this variation, Black's compensation for the sacrificed pawn primarily consists of his lead in development, coupled with the exposure of White's king. A typical line may run: 4.d3 Nf6 5.dxe4 Nxe4 6.Nf3 Bc5, where Black aims for the weakness on f2. In Maehrisch-Ostrau 1923, a game between Rudolf Spielmann and Siegbert Tarrasch continued: 7.Qe2 Bf5 (this was condemned by the Handbuch des Schachspiels because of White's next, though Black had already got into difficulties in the game Réti–Breyer, Budapest 1917, where 7...f5 8.Nfd2 Bf2+ 9.Kd1 Qxd5 10.Nc3 was played) 8.g4?! (in retrospect, prudent was 8.Nc3) 8...0-0! 9.gxf5 Re8 and Black has a tremendous position, as he is bound to regain material and White's positional deficiencies will remain.