The Deutz (pronounced Doy-ts) Gambit, pioneered by German chess masters Max Lange and George Koltanowski, is an aggressive line by White in the Italian Game, Giuoco Piano. White has a safe king and wants to strike the center of the board with d4, open up many options for their dark-squared bishop (in similar fashion to the Scotch Gambit), and start attacking the black king sooner than later, even at the cost of a pawn. Black is forced to take the pawn on d4 with the bishop, knight, or pawn. Because 5. d4 is a move that Black expects the least due to seemingly hanging a key center pawn three different ways, the Deutz is a dangerous gambit that requires Black to know theory to be able to fight it.

The three captures are:

5…Bxd4! This is the strongest variation for black, but not common unless Black knows the theory, since Black is voluntarily giving up a strong bishop for a knight. After the exchange 6. Nxd4 Nxd4, white can play either the Max Lange line of 7. Bg5 or the Johann Deutz line of 7. f4. The 7. Bg5 line pins the f6 knight and prepares 7. f4, leading to tactical attacking chess for White; however, with accurate play, Black can force the queens off the board, leading to an equal endgame. The 7. f4 line is another aggressive tactical option for White which threatens the sole pawn that is holding the center of the board together for Black and is designed to preserve the queens for longer. Black must hold onto this pawn with 7…d6, since they will find themselves well behind if they go with any other option. White still has a very dangerous attack.

5…Nxd4? This move immediately gifts White an advantage and the initiative. White will respond with 6. Nxe5. Notice the pressure white is putting on the f7 square. This is the weakest square for black early in the game because the king is the only piece protecting it. Now white has both the knight and bishop in striking distance of the weakened square.

Black might try to play it safe and castle, but that loses to 7. Be3. White has the bishop and queen attacking the knight and black will end up losing a minor piece. If instead black tries 6…Qe7, white can punish black with 7. Bxf7. The f7 square is still under attack from the knight and black is forced to move the king and damage their setup.

5…exd4 After the pawn takes on d4, this transposes into the Max Lange Attack. White will push the center pawn with 6. e5, which is a common idea in Scotch Gambit positions. This is one of the hardest attacks for black to defend against. If black moves the knight back to g8, they lose too many tempe. If they bring it to “safety” with Ng4, black ends up losing after Bxf7, Kxf7, Ng5+, Kg8, Qxg4. Black can also try to block the center of the board with 6…d5, but white is better of with the exchanges after 7. exf6 dxc4 8. fxg7.

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

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5

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Wikipedia has related information at Max Lange Attack