Imagine this, you are playing in the last round of a tournament. You have played exceptionally well until now and if you win this final game, you will win the championship! However, your opponent is equally strong and has sufficient chess knowledge. In such a situation, won’t it be nice to have a surprise opening up your sleeve with which you could shake your opponent’s confidence and preparation from the word go?
Surprise openings are incredibly useful when deployed strategically. They usually differ from the mainstream openings and are offbeat and generally sharp in nature. The logic behind playing these openings is that though they are easy to counter if one is knowledgeable about them, due to their unconventional nature, not many people are aware of ways of tackling them. As a result, you get the upper hand in the game right from the start.
Gambit openings are an excellent choice to be prepared as surprise weapons. The word ‘gambit’ literally means a temporary sacrifice which is made to gain an advantage in development or something equally compensating. The said sacrifice is usually a pawn and is generally recovered in the course of the game.
This article presents to you 7 best gambits that you can play from White. Read on to find further details and certain tips and tricks in every opening!
7. Evans Gambit
Useful to break the monotony of the Italian opening, the Evan’s gambit acts as a breath of fresh air that makes the game interesting!
The pawn sacrifice with 4. b4, which is played after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5, can surprise Black in an excellent way. The mainline of the opening is as follows –
Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0
Points to remember in this opening –
White sacrifices the b4 pawn to gain additional control in the centre with a tempo with c3-d4 moves.
White has attacking ideas such as Qb3 and Ba3 controlling the diagonals a2-g8 and a3-f8 respectively.
If Black declines the gambit then White accumulates good space on the queenside which further restricts Black’s piece movement.
6. Morra Gambit
Usually, when someone plays the Sicilian Defense, which is one of the best openings for black, they are ready for an intense battle that involves a lot of theoretical preparation. Deploying the Morra gambit is an excellent way to throw them off their game. It can be very difficult to shift one’s mindset from being prepared for a full-blown opening repertoire battle to being surprised right at the beginning!
White sacrifices a pawn to gain tempo for piece development in this opening. The mainline is as follows –
Main line
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0
Points to remember in this opening
White forces Black to give up the pawn on c5, leaving the e4 pawn in control. Simultaneously, at the cost of a pawn, White also gains a lead in development.
White’s main idea will be to develop as quickly as possible and create threats for the Black king or hinder Black’s development in the best way possible.
White also develops his rooks on the ‘c’ and ‘d’ files to control the open and semi-open files.
5. Kings Gambit
Primarily used to disrupt the opponent’s centre control right from the start, the King’s gambit challenges Black’s e5 pawn with 2.f4.
The main idea behind this gambit is to reinforce White’s centre control with yet another pawn move ‘d4’. White aims to recover the f4 pawn sometime in the future but Black tries their best to avoid letting that happen as White simply has a great position with no material loss in that case.
Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.d4
Points to remember in this opening
As this line is pretty aggressive, one misstep by Black can lead to White completely steamrolling the opponent. Hence, there are many opportunities for White to snatch the advantage and Black must thoroughly know the opening to counter it.
White plans to develop simply with Nf3-Bc4-0-0 and make use of the semi-open ‘f’ file.
This opening is best suited for players who enjoy sharp, tactical variations which involve a lot of dynamic possibilities.
4. Scotch Gambit
Another creative way to disturb Black’s center control after 1.e4 e5, is by opting for the Scotch gambit. It is a fiercely attacking opening which is very likely to work in White’s favour, especially if Black is ill-prepared.
If you regularly play the Italian game or Ruy Lopez, the Scotch gambit can definitely be your surprise weapon. The mainline for this opening is as follows-
Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0-0
Points to remember in this opening
White’s aim is to play on the kingside and use the advanced ‘e’ pawn and the soon-to-be developed ‘f’ pawn for a possible attack.
Though White gives up his bishop pair, Black’s pawn weaknesses compensate for it. Also, White should tactfully use the knights to get to important squares.
More often than not, White recovers the d4 pawn. If Black is adamant about protecting it, it is quite likely that White will have other ways of getting an advantage.
3. Danish Gambit
Like most other gambit openings, the Danish gambit aims to destabilize Black’s centre control. In this opening, White gives up not one but two pawns to get a headstart in development.
Though it is very easy for Black to equalize against this opening, a player must know the accurate way to do so otherwise White can easily launch an attack. The mainline of this opening is as follows –
Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d5 6.Bxd5 Nf6 7.Bxf7 Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2 10.Nxd2
Points to remember in this opening
White aims to have two strong bishops on the a2-g8 and a1-h8 diagonals. If Black does not play correctly in the opening, these bishops are instrumental in stopping Black’s development and formulating an attack for White.
Players who are comfortable playing endgames should opt for this opening as the mainline leads to the queens getting exchanged pretty soon.
Rapid development should be your primary goal when playing this opening from White.
2. Halasz Gambit
Probably one of the most off-beat gambit openings in this article, the Halasz gambit is played much less frequently than the others. Starting out with an idea similar to the Danish gambit, White attempts to dislodge the e5 pawn and controls the square immediately with 3.f4.
After capturing the centre, White aims to retake the lost ‘d’ pawn. You can check out our article on the Halasz gambit which explains the opening in detail. The mainline of this opening is as follows –
Main Line
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.a3 a5 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Nbd2 (with idea of Nb3 and attacking the d4 pawn)
Points to remember in this opening
Launching a kingside attack should have priority on your list of agenda as White.
Keep looking out for the option of playing e5 as it drives away the f6 knight and opens up the d3-h7 diagonal for your Bishop. This can be especially helpful if you decide to launch an attack on Black’s king.
Use the combination of the ‘e’ and ‘f’ pawns wisely. If pushed at the right time, those two pawns can wreak havoc and aid in unleashing the kingside attack.
1. Wing Gambit against French Defence
Black’s primary idea while playing the solid French defence is to build a strong pawn structure and challenge White’s central ‘d4’ pawn with c5, especially in the advance variation, while the other central pawns remain interlocked.
With 4.b4, White aims to disrupt Black’s idea of challenging the d4 pawn by distracting the ‘c5’ pawn with a temporary sacrifice. The mainline of the opening is as follows –
Main Line
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4 cxb4 5.a3 Nc6 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.d4
Points to remember in this opening
White should ideally develop with Bd3-0-0 and play on both flanks by targeting Black’s queenside pawns and also actively looking for attacking possibilities on the Kingside.
If Black castles on the kingside, White must always check whether certain tactics involving the Bxh7 sacrifice work.
Active piece play is White’s best friend in this opening and so you must never waste your moves.
Conclusion
I hope this article was instrumental in introducing the 7 best gambits from White to you. One important thing to remember is that this article only provides mainlines and basic ideas for each opening. Before playing them in actual games, you must be well prepared for certain sidelines within each opening as well.
Gambit openings are a great way to surprise your opponent. It is always helpful to have at least one or two such surprise weapons prepared as they can come in handy at any time. The primary motive of most of them is to disrupt your opponent’s preparation and have a psychological and time advantage right from the beginning.
However, you must remember that preparing these openings should not be used as a substitute for your main openings. These gambit openings should only be used occasionally as their beauty is in their scarcity!