White gives up a pawn on move two, another on move three, and still wins 55% of games. That's the Danish Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3. We went through 15.5 million Lichess games between 1200 and 1800 and turned them into a short lesson.
What you'll learn
- The idea. Pawns for time: both white bishops are aiming at Black's kingside before Black has developed a piece.
- Line 1: Black grabs both pawns. That happens in 72% of games. After 5…Nf6 6.e5! and the common mistake 6…Qe7, White finds the knight sacrifice 10.Nf6+!!, and Black's king is stuck in the center.
- Line 2: Black declines. After 3…Nc6, White doesn't trade. It takes the center with pawns on d4 and e5 instead.
With perfect defense the engine prefers Black, and the lesson says so upfront. But nobody defends perfectly at this level, and the numbers show it. For when to take a gambit pawn and when to say no, read Accept or decline a gambit.
Watched it? Now play it: the 99chess trainer drills openings against a bot that answers differently every time.