Budapest Gambit

The Budapest Gambit, also known as the Budapest Defense, arises after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5. Black hits d4 at once and offers the e-pawn. Unlike most gambits, the material is usually recovered. After 3. dxe5 the knight heads for g4 and targets e5. Black's real aim is fast piece play with ...Nc6 and ...Bb4+ or ...Bc5 before White finishes developing. Engines give White a modest plus, while Lichess results are nearly even.

Accepting with 3. dxe5 is the main line, chosen in over half of games. After 3...Ng4 White has three principal replies. The first, 4. Nf3, gives the pawn back for development. The usual reply 4...Bc5 eyes f2 and forces 5. e3, which shuts in the c1-bishop. Here Black may lift the queen's rook with ...a5 and ...Ra6 toward the kingside, the so-called Budapest rook. White looks for c4-c5 or an f-pawn advance. The Alekhine Variation, 4. e4, sets up a broad center for Black to undermine in hypermodern style. After 4...Nxe5 5. f4 Ng6 6. Nf3, the check 6...Bb4+ is effective. The Rubinstein Variation, 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+, presents a choice. 6. Nbd2 gives a positional game in which White often gains the bishop pair and a small edge. 6. Nc3 keeps the extra pawn but allows ...Bxc3+, saddling White with doubled c-pawns. After 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. a3 comes the Kieninger Trap: 7...Ngxe5 8. axb4?? Nd3# is smothered mate. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has worked to revive 4...g5 against 4. Bf4. The Fajarowicz Variation, 3...Ne4, does not try to win the pawn back quickly. Black relies instead on threats based on ...Bb4+ and pressure against f2.

Declining is less common. 3. Nc3 and 3. d5 each appear in about a sixth of games. 3. d5 sidesteps the capture, but it cedes c5 to Black's bishop and is considered imprecise. On Lichess, Black outscores White after it. 3. e3 lets Black equalize with 3...exd4 4. exd4 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5.

The earliest recorded game is Adler–Maróczy, Budapest 1896. Milan Vidmar's win over Akiba Rubinstein at Berlin in 1918 brought the opening serious attention. Réti, Spielmann and Tartakower adopted it in the 1920s, and many White players began answering 1...Nf6 with 2. Nf3 to avoid it. Alekhine's 4. e4 and Rubinstein's 4. Bf4 with 6. Nbd2 supplied antidotes. By the end of that decade theory regarded the gambit as dubious. It has since been an infrequent guest in elite events. Nigel Short lost with it to Anatoly Karpov in their 1992 Candidates semifinal, and Vasyl Ivanchuk lost to Levon Aronian in the 2013 Candidates Tournament. It is mostly valued as a surprise or blitz weapon.