Jump to content

Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...f5/3. Nxe5

Add links
From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Latvian Gambit
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black kingg7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 white knightf5 black pawng5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 black kingh1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

rnbqkbnr/pppp2pp/8/4Np2/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5
ECO code: C40
Parent: King's Knight Opening

Latvian Gambit

[edit | edit source]

3. Nxe5

[edit | edit source]

White is threatening a fearsome queen check on h5, with the e5-knight ready to pounce on the g-pawn should Black advance it to g6. There's also the incidental threat of exf5. So that's the Latvian Gambit refuted then? Most top players would say "yes". But there is a particularly optimistic breed of chess player that looks at the pawns on f5 and e4 and thinks that if the knight could just be driven away from e5, it's Black who will be capturing a pawn (fxe4), and possibly even defending it with ...d5.

And so the move 3...Qf6 was invented. Yes, it's not usual to move the queen so early, but then again, following up a wild lunge like 2…f5 with solid-looking moves is a recipe for disaster.

There's also 3...Nc6, the Fraser Variation. "You're threatening to win the exchange? Coward! I shall FORCE you to win the exchange!"

3...Nf6 has recently been suggested, preventing Qh5+ but allowing exf5. This may or may not be suicidal.

When contributing to this Wikibook, please follow the Conventions for organization.

Wikipedia has related information at Latvian Gambit

References

[edit | edit source]
  • Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Chess_Opening_Theory/1._e4/1...e5/2._Nf3/2...f5/3._Nxe5&oldid=4246185"