Elephant Gambit

Elephant Gambit

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5
ECO	C40
Parent	King's Knight Opening
Synonym(s)	Queen's Pawn Counter Gambit Englund Counterattack

The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queen's Pawn Counter Gambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 d5?

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.

Lines

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.

3.exd5

Black's responses to 3.exd5 include 3...e4 and 3...Bd6 (the Elephant Gambit proper). 3...Qxd5 saves the pawn, but leaves White with a big lead in development after 4.Nc3.

3...e4 4.Qe2 Nf6

A typical line might continue 3...e4 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Qxd5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.dxe4 Qe6 and White remains a pawn ahead, although Black's development is somewhat smoother.

Alternatively, after 4...Nf6:

• 5.d3 Be7 6.dxe4 0-0 7.Nc3 Re8 8.Bd2 Bb4 9.0-0-0, with advantage for White (Nick de Firmian).
• 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Nxe4:
  • 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).
  • 6...0-0 7.Nxf6+ Bxf6 8.d4 Re8 9.Be3, with distinct superiority for White (de Firmian).

3...e4 4.Qe2 f5

3...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.

Elephant Gambit proper: 3...Bd6

3...Bd6 4.d4 e4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Bc4 and according to de Firmian, White enjoys a distinct superiority but no immediate attack.

3.Nxe5

After 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.
• In Lob-Eliskases, German CC 1929, Black played 3...dxe4. The game continued 4.Bc4 Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.d4 Qxg2 7.Rf1 Bh3 8.Bc4 Nf6 9.Bf4, and White went on to win.
• 3...Qe7? leads to an advantage for White after 4.d4 f6 5.Nd3 dxe4 6.Nf4 Qf7 7.Nd2 (Bondarevsky-Lilienthal, USSR 1941).

Other lines

3.d4 can be used to enter some uncommon territory.

Read more:

• List of chess openings