Morphy Gambit

The Morphy Gambit arises when White plays 2. d4 against the Sicilian and, after 2...cxd4, develops with 3. Nf3 instead of recapturing at once. The immediate 3. Qxd4 would let Black win a tempo with ...Nc6, so White intends to take back with the knight. In most games no material is actually sacrificed. Black answers with a normal Sicilian move such as 3...Nc6, 3...e6 or 3...d6, and 4. Nxd4 transposes to an Open Sicilian.

The critical test of the move order is 3...e5, which defends the d4-pawn and keeps the extra material. The capture 4. Nxe5 is a blunder because 4...Qa5+ picks up the knight. White's most reasonable continuation is 4. c3, the Andreaschek Gambit, which resembles a Smith-Morra Gambit in which Black has turned down the pawn offer with ...e5. The engine regards the starting position as roughly level, and online results are close to even. The line had its heyday in the nineteenth century; an early example is von der Lasa versus Mayet, 1857, and Paul Morphy often chose it to reach open positions, sometimes meeting 3...e5 in reply.