Danish Gambit

The Danish Gambit arises when White, after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4, declines to recapture and offers the c-pawn instead. It is known as the Nordic Gambit in German and Dutch, and also in Denmark itself. ECO treats it as an offshoot of the Center Game. If Black takes twice, White is two pawns down but has both bishops aimed at the black king, and the opponent has spent several tempi on pawn captures.

Accepting with 3...dxc3 is by far the most common reply. White then chooses between 4. Nxc3, the Alekhine Variation, which gives up a single pawn and often transposes to the Göring Gambit, and 4. Bc4, Lindehn's continuation, which invites 4...cxb2 5. Bxb2. In that position the bishops on c4 and b2 bear down on f7 and g7, and an early Qb3 adds pressure on f7 and b7, making it hard for Black to develop. The most reliable answer is Schlechter's 5...d5, which returns material to gain time. After 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxd8 Bb4+ 9. Qd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2 Re8, Black recovers the queen and reaches an endgame that most theorists consider equal. Some think Black's queenside majority gives a small endgame edge. This is not the kind of position a gambiteer wants.

Black can also decline. The Sörensen Defense, 3...d5, also called the Capablanca Defense, lets White regain the pawn with 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. cxd4. One point of the Danish move order is that White can then play 5...Nc6 6. Be3 rather than transpose into the Göring Gambit Declined. 3...Nc6 is the most frequent way of declining among amateurs, and 4. Nf3 reaches the Göring Gambit. 3...Qe7 and 3...d6 are sound alternatives, with 3...Qe7 keeping the extra pawn without granting much of a lead in development. 3...Ne7 is the rare Svenonius Defense.

Engines give Black a slight edge after 3. c3. In online practice, however, White scores well, because the defender must find accurate moves. The line was played regularly by the Swede Hans Lindehn from 1857 at the latest, and he beat Steinitz with it in London in 1864. Credit for the opening usually goes to the Danish master Martin Severin From, who used it at Paris 1867. Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne and Mieses all adopted it. As defensive resources such as Schlechter's line became known, it fell out of favor in the 1920s, and it is now rarely seen in top-level chess.