Queenside Gambit for Long Game Victory

The Blumenfeld Gambit is very similar to the Benko Gambit. The difference here is you are playing for a powerful mobile center instead of the open a and b-files seen in the Benko.

After 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 you will play the key move 6...d5. Now you have pawns on c5, d5 and e6. White unusually for a 1.d4 opening will have a small center and also a central minority.

If you don't like having an imposing, mobile center there are other ways to play the Blumenfeld. You can run with 6...a6 which will likely lead to a more Benko orientated game.

The Grunfeld Gambit is a plan for Black in the Grunfeld Defense to gain a big lead in development in exchange for the important c7-pawn. The Accepted lines occur after 6.cxd5. The Main Starting Position of the Grunfeld Gambit Accepted is reached after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Bxc7.

When the dust settles we see that Black has lost his c-pawn which is often used to prize open White's big center in the Grunfeld. He does however have his King safely castled and he has more pieces developed. His Queen has a commanding position in the center and cannot easily be harassed.

You only have to look at White's position to see that he will face danger. His King will be stuck in the center for at least 3 more moves. As Black you must concentrate your energies on preventing White from ever castling. At the very least he should be forced into some concession in order to tuck his King away to safety.

The Danube Gambit is similar to the Benko Gambit or Blumenfeld Gambit. You play 3...b5 in order to develop your Bishop to g7 with tempo. If White accepts you get a couple of things for your pawn.

The first thing is quick development as already mentioned. White's d5-pawn also loses a solid defender and will be the subject of attack from your forces.

Your game plan is clear as your will bear down on d5 and attempt to break White's center. White will quickly play e4 to re-establish support for d5. This move will also blunt the g7-Bishop on the long diagonal. Your game will develop on the Kingside as you play to undermine White's pawn chain on e4 and maybe f3.

Pal Benko worked on the Volga in the 50s and 60s. The intention before then was to play 3...b4 and then 4...e6 to break down White's center. Benko wanted something completely different out of the opening.

The Benko took his name when he changed the character of it completely. His objectives were not to liquidate the center but to open the a and b-files for Black's Rooks and Queen. Black's dark square Bishop goes on the long diagonal. The light square Bishop goes to a6, impeding White's attempts to castle.

Knights on d7 and f6 and Rooks on a8 and b8 with the Queen joining them on those files. Perfect harmony and a dangerous initiative on the Queenside all for the price of a pawn. This opening has several difficult corridors.

The Budapest Gambit was first seen in tournament play in Budapest in 1896 (Adler vs Maroczy). This was a low profile game however and the opening was not used frequently for another 22 years.

It was only when Milan Vidmar used it to shock Akiba Rubinstein in Berlin in 1918 that it attracted attention from the elite. Black offers his King's pawn for a sacrifice. If White accepts there are three main lines that the opening can continue with.

The Adler Variation where White abandons the extra pawn and develops his minor pieces; the Alekhine Variation where White builds a formidable pawn structure in the center; or else if White develops Knight before Bishop, the Rook Lift can give Black good pressure on White's castled King.

The Balogh Gambit is another trick Black can use instead of simply taking on e5. White can answer in two ways. He can pressurize the Knight on g4 with 5.Bd2. Or he can accept the gambit with 5.dxe6.

5.Bd2 develops steadily and invites the Black Knight to take back the e5-pawn. This line is one that affords both players a fairly equal game.

Capablanca played this move against Tartakower. A tactical game followed after Black castled long. He couldn't win back the sacrificed pawn and indeed lost another in the ensuing complications. This eventually proved his undoing. White won through his powerful rolling pawn mass on the Kingside.

The Farajowicz Gambit takes the Budapest away from it's Main Lines which come about after 3...Ng4. You can run with instead with 3...Ne4 allowing White to hold on to his material.

Here you will exert pressure against White along the e1-a5 diagonal. The dark square Bishop will jump into b4 with check. Bishop and Knight will make nuisances of themselves with double control on c3. The Knight is also hitting d2. ...d5 is a dangerous idea here. You can try to bring the Queen into the game on the d-file.

As White the best way to meet this ploy is to simply keep cool and develop logically. You can't go wrong with a move like Nf3. Exchange off Black's offensive minor pieces on d2 and maybe castle long.

The Wagner Gambit is a nice little line in the Torre Attack that could induce a calamitous error from Black. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 takes us to the starting position of the Torre Attack where you will try to leverage something from the pin.

Black has a few good moves here and one interesting idea is to attack the center with 3...c5. You can respond in a number of ways and one of the most fun continuations can be 4.e4, the Wagner Gambit.


You are threatening 5.e5 attacking the pinned Knight. Black's best way to deal with this is 4...h6 attacking the Bishop before the pawn gets to the Knight. Sometimes though Black can be tempted by 4...Qb6 which threatens three pawns at once (b2, d4 and e4).

To set the Wagner Trap you ignore all threats and play 5.Nbd2 offering Black the poisoned pawn on b2. If 5...Qxb2 is played you spring the trap with 6.Nc4 and no matter what Black does his Queen is trapped and will be snapped off in a couple of moves.

The Staunton Gambit is another way to liquidate Black's Dutch f-pawn. This time you leave your Kingside intact and instead give up your e-pawn in the center. You will end up after f3 with a formation very familiar to Blackmar-Diemer fans.

Now you will develop with a mind to build up pressure against e4. Nc3 and Bg5 to pin Black's f6-Knight later are thematic moves. You will often castle Queenside and throw your forces on the other wing at Black's King.

As Black you can accept the gambit by 2...fxe4 with a solid game based on shoring up your pawn. Otherwise you can simply support f5 by means of 2...d6 or 2...e6. Finally you could let f5 go with a move like 2...c6. This drags the e4-pawn on to the f-file where you will hope to eventually round it up.

The Lasker Gambit is a line in the Staunton Gambit. After 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c6 5.f3 with that Blackmar-Diemer feel. This gambit can also be played after 4...g6.

So how does the Blackmar-Diemer set-up fare in this position? Now Black has a fully stocked center and is only missing his f-pawn. There'll be none of the patterns from the Ryder Gambit where White draws the Black Queen into the open by sacrificing his d-pawn.

Indeed castling Queenside will not now give White any play on the d-file. Saying that castling long will still be on the cards after the Queen goes to d2. Then an attack on the Black Kingside is in the pipeline.

The Krejcik Gambit is an attempt to deflect the f5-pawn from it's main duties in the Dutch Defense. When Black plays the Dutch Defense, 1...f5 stakes a claim to e4. Black is preventing you from playing that move.

White's plans in this opening will revolve around preparing the e4 advance. There are many conventional ways of achieving this. The King's Rook will come to e1 after castling. The Bishop is sometimes fianchettoed to support e4 too.

2.g4 is a much quicker, less conventional way to facilitate the e4 advance. You give up a g-pawn to drag the f-pawn out of position. After 2...fxg4 you can then play e4 immediately with the intention of castling long and taking the semi-open g-file for your Rook. Black does not necessarily have to accept. He could support f5 with 2...d5, 2...d6 or 2...e6.

The Charlick Gambit is a line in the Englund Gambit that looks for a completely open center. As Black you would like White to accept with 3.exd6 and you will play 3...Bxd6.

For your pawn you have the first minor piece into the fray. What's more is your light square Bishop is opened and ready to go. Now you need to play with energy and pressurize White into mistakes. No time to procrastinate when you're a pawn down.

Trouble is White often declines the Charlick. His main options in the field are 3.c4, 3.e4 and 3.g3. The first two can lead to slow-burning Queenless games when Black plays ...dxe6 leading to the Queen exchange. With 3.g3 White puts his light square Bishop on the long diagonal to protect his King from your powerful Bishops.

The Englund Gambit is a dubious effort that may (or may not) work for you in your games. The main purpose of this opening is to prevent White from closing the game with 1.d4. The immediate 1...e5 lets White know that you will insist an open game.

White should take on move 2 and after 2...Nc6 he will defend e5 with 3.Nf3. Next you play the somewhat surprising move 3...Qe7 attacking the pawn again. White can play 4.Qd5 or defend his pawn a second time with 4.Bf4. 4.Qd5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 brings the game to the main starting position of the Englund.


After 4.Bf4, the reply 4...Qb4+ is a tricky test for many players. He should play 5.Bd2 here, giving back the pawn, and he will be fine. After the apparently dangerous 5...Bb4, 6.Nf3, the only move, covers everything.

The apparently loose Bishop on f4 however may panicky him into making the mistake of playing 5.Qd2. This move just loses plain and simple but if he chooses the correct defense you may face a long and difficult struggle.