Hartlaub-Charlick Gambit

The Hartlaub-Charlick Gambit, also known as the Blackburne-Hartlaub Gambit, is Black's main alternative to 2...Nc6 in the Englund Gambit. Black does not try to recover the e5-pawn with ...Nc6 and ...Qe7. Instead the d-pawn is offered as well, so that after 3. exd6 Bxd6 Black remains a pawn down but already has a bishop developed, the center cleared of pawns and the kingside ready for quick castling. The point is to rule out any closed, maneuvering game and to fight on open files from the start.

Black's usual development runs ...Nf6, ...Nc6, ...Bg4, ...Qe7, then ...O-O-O and ...Rhe8, putting every piece on an active square and aiming the rooks down the open central files. If White castles short without due care, the bishop on d6 and the knight on f6 can set up a Greek gift sacrifice on h2. Short castling is also an option for Black, particularly in lines where White plays an early Bg5. White's assets are the extra pawn and the surviving e2-pawn, which gives White the only central pawn on the board. White's task is to finish development and neutralize the initiative, after which the material edge should count.

3. exd6 is by far the most common reply. It accepts the offer at once, yet in online games Black scores slightly better than White after it. 3. Nf3 develops while keeping the pawn on e5, and it is the engine's first choice. White's results are clearly better with this move. 3. Bf4, which also defends e5, is a less common alternative.

Engines give White a clear advantage after 2...d6. In online play the overall results are nearly even, because the attacking chances are easy for White to underestimate. Henry Charlick played the gambit in the early 1890s to stop White from steering toward a closed game. Claude Bloodgood used it as one of his main openings and in 1998 published a book on it, Blackburne-Hartlaub Gambit, written from analysis he compiled while in prison.