Elephant Gambit
The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queen's Pawn Countergambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves:
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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO | C40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Knight Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Queen's Pawn Countergambit Englund Counterattack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Although the Elephant Gambit is considered unsound, it has been used frequently by the Barbadian master Philip Corbin.
Lines
White is able to capture either of Black's center pawns with the advantage, either by 3.exd5 or 3.Nxe5. With a center pawn removed, Black is in a passive position with White clearly having the initiative as White controls more space.
3.exd5
Black's responses to 3.exd5 include 3...e4 and 3...Bd6 (the Elephant Gambit proper). 3...Qxd5 saves the pawn, but leaves White with a big lead in development after 4.Nc3.
3...e4
After 3...e4 4.Qe2 Nf6 lines might continue:
- 5.d3 Qxd5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.dxe4 Qe6 and White remains a pawn ahead, although Black's development is somewhat smoother.
- 5.d3 Be7 6.dxe4 0-0 7.Nc3 Re8 8.Bd2 Bb4 9.0-0-0, with advantage for White (Nick de Firmian).
- 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Nxe4:
- 6...Nxd5 7.d3 0-0 8.Qd1 Bg4 9.Be2 f5 10.Ng3 Nc6 11.c3 with slight advantage for White, as in Salomonsson–H. Sorenson, Malmo 1982 (de Firmian).
- 6...0-0 7.Nxf6+ Bxf6 8.d4 Re8 9.Be3 with distinct superiority for White (de Firmian).
After 3...e4 4.Qe2, Tal–Lutikov, Tallinn 1964[1] continued 4...f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.dxe4 fxe4 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Qb5+ c6 9.Qxb4 exf3 with 10.Bg5 cxd5 11.0-0-0 Nc6 with advantage for White.
Elephant Gambit proper: 3...Bd6
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
After 3...Bd6 4.d4 e4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Bc4, according to de Firmian, White enjoys a distinct superiority but no immediate attack.
3.Nxe5
After 3.Nxe5:
- Black plays 3...Bd6 4.d4 dxe4 5.Bc4 Bxe5 6.Qh5 Qf6 7.dxe5, which is thought to be slightly better for White.
- In Lob–Eliskases, German CC 1929, Black played 3...dxe4. The game continued 4.Bc4 Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.d4 Qxg2 7.Rf1 Bh3 8.Bc4 Nf6 9.Bf4 and White went on to win.
- 3...Qe7? leads to an advantage for White after 4.d4 f6 5.Nd3 dxe4 6.Nf4 Qf7 7.Nd2 (Bondarevsky–Lilienthal, USSR 1941).
See also
References
Bibliography
- Burgess, Graham. The Mammoth Book of Chess. London: Constable and Robinson, 2000.
- de Firmian, Nick (1999). Modern Chess Openings (14th ed.). New York: David McKay Company Inc. pp. 150–51.
- Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [First pub. 1992]. "Queen's Pawn Counter-gambit". The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 329. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
External links
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The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Elephant Gambit |