Elephant Gambit
Encyclopedia
The Elephant Gambit is a rarely played chess opening
beginning with the moves:
In this gambit
, Black ignores the attack on his e-pawn and immediately tries to wrest the initiative from White. The main idea is that Black has sacrificed a pawn to gain a move and must obtain compensation for it. The resulting position can be sharp for White, and thus may be a good surprise opening for Black. It is generally considered unsound, because if White plays accurately Black does not get sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. One of the Elephant Gambit's leading modern-day exponents is Philip Corbin
.
Unfortunately, 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.
A typical line might continue
a) 3.exd5 e4 (3...Qxd5 saves the pawn, but leaves White with a big lead in development after 4.Nc3) 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Qxd5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.dxe4 Qe6 and White remains a pawn ahead, though Black's development is somewhat smoother.
Alternatives are:
b) 3...Bd6 (the Elephant Gambit proper) with 4. d4 e4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nc3 0-0 7. Bc4 ..., but here White enjoys a distinct superiority, but no immediate attack, according to de Firmian.
c) 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.
d) After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2, Black plays 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 as in Tal
-Lutikov
, Tallinn 1964 (see de Firmian) with advantage for White. The continuation of the game can be found here: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139713. (de Firmian suggests 12. Qe5, which is not possible given the position.
e) After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2 Nf6
f) 3. d4 can be used to enter some uncommon territory.
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
beginning with the moves:
- 1. e4 e5
- 2. Nf3 d5!?
In this gambit
Gambit
A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...
, Black ignores the attack on his e-pawn and immediately tries to wrest the initiative from White. The main idea is that Black has sacrificed a pawn to gain a move and must obtain compensation for it. The resulting position can be sharp for White, and thus may be a good surprise opening for Black. It is generally considered unsound, because if White plays accurately Black does not get sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. One of the Elephant Gambit's leading modern-day exponents is Philip Corbin
Philip Corbin
Philip Corbin is a chess FIDE Master from Barbados.Corbin has represented Barbados in eleven Chess Olympiads from 1986 through 2008, playing first board in 1986, 1990, 1998, and 2000....
.
Unfortunately, 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.
A typical line might continue
a) 3.exd5 e4 (3...Qxd5 saves the pawn, but leaves White with a big lead in development after 4.Nc3) 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Qxd5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.dxe4 Qe6 and White remains a pawn ahead, though Black's development is somewhat smoother.
Alternatives are:
b) 3...Bd6 (the Elephant Gambit proper) with 4. d4 e4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nc3 0-0 7. Bc4 ..., but here White enjoys a distinct superiority, but no immediate attack, according to de Firmian.
c) 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.
d) After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2, Black plays 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 as in Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
-Lutikov
Anatoly Lutikov
Anatoly Lutikov was a chess Grandmaster. He played from 1949 to 1983.-External links:...
, Tallinn 1964 (see de Firmian) with advantage for White. The continuation of the game can be found here: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139713. (de Firmian suggests 12. Qe5, which is not possible given the position.
e) After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2 Nf6
- e1) 5. d3 Be7 6. dxe4 0-0 7. Nc3 Re8 8. Bd2 Bb4 9. 0-0-0, with advantage for White (de Firmian).
- e2) 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Nxe4
- e2a) 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).
- e2b) 6...0-0 7. Nxf6+ Bxf6 8. d4 Re8 9. Be3, with distinct superiority for White (de Firmian).
f) 3. d4 can be used to enter some uncommon territory.
External links
- Harding, Tim (August 1997). The Kibitzer: We're Going On An Elephant Hunt. ChessCafe.com.
- The Elephant Gambit (Over 100 games) from Chessgames.com.
- Opening Report: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 (1850 games)