Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nf6/3. Nxe5/3...Nc6/4. d4

Stafford Gambit Declined
	a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h
	Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4N3/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R
	Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. d4
	ECO code: C42
	Parent: Stafford Gambit

4. d4

Instead of playing 4. Nxc6 and accepting the Stafford Gambit, White chooses to take the center and defend their e5 knight. This refuses any of the traps the Stafford has in store. This is the second best move.

Responses

Black has a variety of responses to this Stafford Gambit Declined.

Regain the pawn

4...Nxe5 is an accurate move, trading knights. This leads to a position slightly better for White after 5. dxe5 Nxe4 6. Qe2 Nc5 7. Be3⩲ where White gets development and tempo on Black's knight.

4...Nxe4 tries to regain the pawn immediately, but this is less accurate than 4...Nxe5. The reason is 5. Qe2!, where Black is the one suddenly in a minefield of traps that they have to avoid (see Traps section below). This is the second most common move in the Lichess database.

4...Qe7 is a rarer move winning back the pawn by attacking the e5 knight a second time and after 5. Nc3 Nxe5 6. dxe5 Qxe5 Black regains the pawn. This is preferred by Stockfish on depth 34.

Don't regain the pawn

Black can also instead try 4...d6, attacking the White knight on e5 but after 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3⩲ White is up a pawn, has smooth development and Black's pawn structure on the queenside is quite messy.

4...d5!? is an interesting counterattacking move. However, this is dubious due to 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5± and Black's knight on f6 is kicked to d7, e4 or g8. It is uncommon and not very sound.

Traps

Black can fall for quite a few traps if they play 4...Nxe4. 5. Qe2! attacks the knight and is very threatening. 5...d5?? loses the knight after 6. Nxc6! bxc6 7. f3+-, where Black's knight is pinned to the king. 5...Nf6?? is even worse because of 6. Nxc6+! discovered check on Black's king by the queen on e2 and White will win the queen with 7. Nxd8 or 7. Nxe7 (if the queen moves to e7 to block the check). Black has to find the rare 5...Qh4, which after 6. g3 they also have to find the rare Kholmov Gambit-style 6...Qe7 which appears to lose a knight, but after 7. Qxe4 d6± Black will win back the knight as it is pinned to the queen on e4.