One queen move, and Black's knight on e4 and pawn on f7 are both hanging. That's the main trap of the Göring Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3. We went through 2.2 million Lichess games between 1200 and 1800: White scores 56% here, and after 8.Qd5! it wins about eight games out of ten.
What you'll learn
- The idea. A pawn for time: the knight comes to c3, the bishop to c4 aiming at f7, and the center opens before Black has developed. Three players in four take the pawn.
- Line 1: the trap. After 5.Nxc3 Bb4 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.e5!, the most popular reply is 7…Ne4?, and 8.Qd5! hits the knight and threatens mate on f7. A piece goes.
- Line 2: the same trick again. After 6…Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.e5 the knight jumps to e4 again, and again 9.Qd5!. Greedy 9…Nxc3?? runs into 10.Qxf7#.
- Line 3: Black declines with 4…d5. A calm game where White keeps the better center and two bishops.
The Göring is a close cousin of the Danish: the same c3 sacrifice, just after 2.Nf3 Nc6. If you haven't seen it yet, here's our Danish Gambit lesson, and for when a gambit pawn is worth taking at all, read Accept or decline a gambit.
The Göring Gambit is in the 99chess trainer: every move explained, plus drills against a bot that answers differently each time, 7…Ne4 included.