McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit

After 2...d5 3. exd5, the natural recapture 3...Qxd5 lets White gain a tempo with 4. Nc3. With 3...Nf6 Black keeps the queen at home and attacks the advanced pawn with a piece, temporarily leaving White a doubled d-pawn. The recapture of 3...Qxd5 had been seen as early as Horwitz v Bird, 1851, while Mikhail Tal introduced 3...Nf6 against Harston in 1979, which gave the gambit its name.

The most frequent answer is 4. c4, holding the pawn, though Wikibooks views it with suspicion. After 4...e6 5. dxe6 Bxe6 Black is down a pawn but leads in development and has the initiative. With 4. Nc3 White develops instead, and 4...Nxd5 5. Nxd5 Qxd5 restores material while Black stays ahead in development. 4. Nf3 is the second most popular move, and the engine also considers 4. Bb5+. The engine assesses the position as balanced, while Black has the better results in online play. This line is a main reason the immediate 2. f4 has lost ground to the 2. Nc3 move order.