Danish Gambit Accepted

With 3...dxc3 Black accepts the gambit and is temporarily two pawns ahead, with the c-, d- and e-files half-open and White to move. It is the usual reply to 3. c3 and a frequent guest in club play, but it rarely appears in elite events. The line is full of traps for an unprepared defender, yet a well-informed Black can neutralize White's initiative. The game is shaped by White's fourth move: 4. Nxc3, the Single Danish, takes back one pawn, while 4. Bc4, the Double Danish, leaves b2 hanging.

The Double Danish is chosen in about three-quarters of games. Black may decline the second pawn with 4...d6 5. Nxc3, which transposes to the Göring Gambit. After 4...cxb2 5. Bxb2, several named defenses follow. The Copenhagen Defense, 5...Bb4+, is met by 6. Kf1 or 6. Nc3. The Classical Defense, 5...Nf6, and the Chigorin Defense, 5...Qe7, are other options. The quiet 5...d6 runs into 6. Qb3, aimed at f7. The most respected choice is the Schlechter Defense, 5...d5, which gives a pawn back to speed up development.

In the Schlechter, 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxd8 Bb4+ 9. Qd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2 leads to a queenless middlegame. Black played 10...Re8 in Nyholm–Tartakower, Baden 1914, and Schlechter proposed 10...c5. Black may also deviate earlier with 6...Bb4+. Ingo Firnhaber tried to revive White's attacking chances with 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Nc3, but Müller and Voigt's Danish Dynamite considers White's compensation inadequate after 7...Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Nbd7 9. Nf3 c6. The alternative 6. exd5 shuts in White's own light-squared bishop, and after 6...Nf6 7. Nc3 Bd6 Black completes development without trouble.

The Single Danish, 4. Nxc3, is the second most common choice and was Alekhine's recommendation. It often merges with the Göring Gambit after 4...d6, 4...Bc5 or 4...Nc6, once White plays Bc4 and Nf3. Because the king's knight is still undeveloped, White can meet an early ...Bb4 by bringing it to e2 and keeping the queenside pawns intact. One example is 4...Bb4 5. Bc4 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 d6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Ne2, from Alekhine–Pomar, a clock simultaneous in Madrid in 1943. Against 4...Bb4, 5. Qd4 is an independent option. A third choice, 4. Nf3, is rarely played.

Engines give Black a slight edge in this position. In online games, however, White wins clearly more often than Black, because the defender has to find accurate moves under pressure.