A gambit in chess is when a player offers material, generally a pawn or two, to either speed up his own development, force an attack, or open lines for his pieces. Many players, especially at the higher level, discourage themselves from gambits as they consider them risky and are uncertain about the recovery of the lost material. Other more attacking players prefer gambits as ways to open up the game and get some nice tactical opportunities. In many gambits the defending player(the one who has accepted the gambit) decides to return the extra material to lessen the force of the attack. More stubborn players think they can defend well to hold onto the extra material. This isn't wise, as doing so can force your position into total passivity and may cause you to lose material somewhere else on the board. Some gambits should be declined to keep the game uncomplicated, while others are quite useless, and should be accepted(while still defending properly). The main thing is to not be afraid when a player gives away a pawn for no good cause. He is simply violating the basic principles of the game.
Some frequently played gambits are:
The queen's gambit:One of the oldest openings. This is played quite regularly among the grandmasters largely because it is not a gambit at all. The lost pawn can always be regained by force, analysis shows. It starts off with 1. d4 d5 2. c4
The Benko Gambit(my personal favorite): Quite a violent gambit. It gained popularity among top players as its benefits outweigh the effect of the lost pawn. Some benefits include the beautiful view the g7 bishop has along its diagonal, the semi open a and b files for the rooks, preventing white from dominating with e4( if white plays e4, the f1 bishop is exchanged off, and white has to waste time castling artificially. Lost material is usually won back, chess engines show. Starts off with 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5
The reverse Benko gambit: This is rarely played but is the above gambit, just played from white's side(starts with the Reti opening). Black should never accept this gambit as not only does it provide white with the above benefits, but comes with a tempo gain as well.
The Evans gambit: Very rarely ever played in serious play and was popularized by the chess players of the late 1800s like Andersson. It aims to speed up development with playing d4 and forcing black to go on the defensive. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4
The Danish gambit: Almost never played in serious play, it aims to bring white's bishops onto threatening diagonals before black has even started development. Quite useless and black can defend easily by exchanging queens and interposing knights between the bishops. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. d4 ed4 3. c3 dc3 4. Bc4
The Marshall gambit or the Marshall attack: This gambit is quite popular with players and is a sideline of the Ruy Lopez opening. White finds it easier to return material as black's attack then becomes difficult to manage on the kingside. Black's queen is dominating in this variation. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d5
Some frequently played gambits are:
The queen's gambit:One of the oldest openings. This is played quite regularly among the grandmasters largely because it is not a gambit at all. The lost pawn can always be regained by force, analysis shows. It starts off with 1. d4 d5 2. c4
The reverse Benko gambit: This is rarely played but is the above gambit, just played from white's side(starts with the Reti opening). Black should never accept this gambit as not only does it provide white with the above benefits, but comes with a tempo gain as well.
The Evans gambit: Very rarely ever played in serious play and was popularized by the chess players of the late 1800s like Andersson. It aims to speed up development with playing d4 and forcing black to go on the defensive. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4
The Danish gambit: Almost never played in serious play, it aims to bring white's bishops onto threatening diagonals before black has even started development. Quite useless and black can defend easily by exchanging queens and interposing knights between the bishops. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. d4 ed4 3. c3 dc3 4. Bc4
The Marshall gambit or the Marshall attack: This gambit is quite popular with players and is a sideline of the Ruy Lopez opening. White finds it easier to return material as black's attack then becomes difficult to manage on the kingside. Black's queen is dominating in this variation. Starts off with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d5
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