Budapest Gambit

Almost a respectable opening.

— Boris Avrukh^[1]

2...e5 is the energetic Budapest defence, aka the Budapest gambit. Black challenges White's centre straight away. Black sacrifices a pawn, but can usually recover it, in return for active play. It's one of those slightly inaccurate sort of lines that is usually described as a "good blitz/surprise weapon".

3. dxe5, accepting the gambit, is the mainline. White takes the pawn and compels Black's knight to move again, either to g4 or e4. White is up a pawn but it may be a mistake to hold onto it too tightly. Returning it allows White to avoid tactical complications (in the mainline continuation, it is returned after 3...Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 Qe7, and White cannot add a further defender).

Declining the gambit is atypical. Surely Black shouldn't be allowed a free potshot at White's centre?

• 3. e3?! prepares to recapture the pawn, but allows Black to equalise. A continuation is 3...exd4 4. exd4 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5=^[2].
• 3. Nf3?! to defend the pawn allows 3...e5 to drive the knight away.
• 3. d5?! to avoid the capture is a positional mistake, and releases the c5 square for Black's bishop.

The Budapest is first known from a 1896 game between amateur Mór Adler and Géza Maróczy (1870―1951) in Budapest.^[3] It was revisited in 1916, again in Budapest, by Gyula Breyer (1893―1921) as Black against Johannes Esser (1877―1946)^[4] and came to prominence when Milan Vidmar (1885―1962) scored an upset with it against Akiba Rubinstein (1880―1961).^[5]

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5

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Wikipedia has related information at Budapest Gambit