Falkbeer Countergambit

The Falkbeer Countergambit, named after the Austrian master Ernst Falkbeer, answers White's flank thrust with an immediate central counter. Black ignores the f4-pawn and challenges e4 instead, relying on the tactical protection of e5. The natural-looking 3. fxe5?? fails to 3...Qh4+ 4. g3 Qxe4+ 5. Qe2 Qxh1, and in practice that capture scores very badly for White. The engine rates the starting position as roughly balanced, and Black's results are slightly better than White's.

White usually takes on d5 with 3. exd5, and the fight then centers on d5, e4 and e5. The traditional reply is the Staunton Line, 3...e4, in which Black gives up a pawn to wedge White's position and develop freely. Falkbeer played it against Adolf Anderssen in 1851, and it long enjoyed a good reputation, but 4. d3, the Charousek Gambit, returns the material on White's terms and secures a modest edge; after the 1930s the line lost favor. Other fourth moves include 4. Bb5+, the Anderssen Attack, and 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Qe2, the Rubinstein Variation.

Modern practice prefers 3...exf4, the Modern Transfer, which after 4. Nf3 reaches the Modern (Abbazia) Defense of the accepted gambit, 2...exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5. A sharper choice is 3...c6, the Nimzowitsch-Marshall Countergambit, introduced by Frank Marshall in 1905. Black offers a further pawn for activity; the main line 4. Nc3 exf4 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. d4 Ne7 7. dxc6 Nbxc6 gives play similar to the Modern Variation, though White's healthier structure promises a better endgame. After 3. exd5 c6 4. Qe2 White pins the e5-pawn against the king, ruling out 4...exf4 and blunting the check on h4. The Miles Gambit, 3...Bc5, is a rarer sideline.

The main alternative to the capture is 3. Nf3, the Blackburne Attack, which covers h4 and so turns fxe5 into a real threat. A typical sequence is 3...dxe4 4. Nxe5, while 3...Bg4 4. Be2 exf4 5. exd5 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 Qh4+ 7. Kf1 brings Black equality. The Milner-Barry Variation, 3. Nc3, and the Hinrichsen Gambit, 3. d4, are regarded with suspicion by theory. The countergambit itself is old: its earliest recorded appearance is a miniature won by Gioachino Greco in the 17th century.