xabcdefghy 5.Nd5!? This is the Belagrade Gambit. Or, White could play the solid: Best for Black is 5 Bb4! a) 5... Bc5?! 6.

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1 The Belgrade Gambit stems from the Four Knights Opening, 3.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nd5!? It was introduced in the first Belgrade Championship (1945). It looks strange; an opening gambit should result in a lead in development, but White violates the principle of not moving the same piece twice before development is complete The forth-coming attack is not at all obvious! It is only after the position is studied a bit more that one realizes that Black has no easy way to refute White s play. By putting the knight on d5 White prevents the advance of Black s d-pawn to d5 which usually indicates equalization by Black in double e-pawn openings. The knight occupies an excellent outpost on d5 and aside from the cramp it puts on Black s position it also sits poised to combine with other pieces for a sudden attack. Also, the knight is not easily chased away from its post. For instance if Black did not have a knight on c6 he would simply play...c7-c6 kicking the white knight out of his outpost. However to accomplish this now Black would first have to move the knight on c6, canceling out White s extra knight move in the opening. 7zppzpp+pzpp01 6-+n+-sn zpP sN-+N+-0 2PzPP+-zPPzP0 1tR-vLQmKL+R0 5.Nd5!? This is the Belagrade Gambit. Or, White could play the solid: 5.Nxd4 Best for Black is 5 Bb4! a) 5... Bc5?! 6.Nxc6 bxc6 If 6... dxc6 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Bg5 Be Ke8 10.f3 +/=. White has a formation similar to the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez, but with the bishop pair!! 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd Or, 9.Qe2+ Qe7 10.Qxe7+ Kxe c6 12.Ne2 with equal chances Bg5 with equal chances. b) 5... Nxd4?! 6.Qxd4 d6 7.Bg5 White has a good game. c) 5... Nxe4? 6.Nxe4 Qe7 7.f3 d5 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.Bxc6 bxc dxe4 +/= 11.fxe4! Ok is 11.Re Rxe4 1

2 11... c5 If Qd3! threatening Qa6+ followed by Rf3 with a dangerous attack. If Bf4 13.e5 +/=. g6!? Bg7 So, after 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5!? 7zppzpp+pzpp02 6-+n+-sn N zpP N+-0 2PzPP+-zPPzP0 1tR-vLQmKL+R0 Black must decide on how to proceed. The choices are 5Nxe4; 5Nxd5?!; and the rare 5Nb4 (not covered; play 6.Bc4) and,. 5Bc5 (not covered; play 6.Bc4) 5... Nxe4 This is Batsford Chess Opening's choice, but not the most popular. This probably indicates that the gambit is encountered by players not yet strong enough to use BCO, or who simply are unfamiliar with the Gambit s theory. Weaker is 5... Nxd5 6.exd5 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Qe7+ 8.Qe2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2! Qxe2+ 10.Bxe2 Nb4 11.d6! Nc6 12.Kd3! b6 13.Rhe Nxd4 cxd6 15.Nf5 +/= 6.Qe2 White obtains no edge with 6.Bc4!? Be Re1 Nf6 9.Nxe7+ Not 9.Rxe7? Nxe7 10.Nxf6+ gxf6 11.Qxd4 d5 =/ Nxe7 10.Qxd4 d5 White will have a hard time recovering the pawn f5 7zppzpp+-zpp03 6-+n N+p zpn N+-0 2PzPP+QzPPzP0 1tR-vL-mKL+R0 Most commonly played is 7.Ng5 [Bf4!?] which is strong. Black must find 7... d3! Weaker, for example, is 7... Bb4+? 8.c3 [or Nxb4] dxc3 9.bxc3 Be7 10.Nxe4 fxe4 11.Qxe Bd3 g6 2

3 13.Bh6 White has compensation for the pawn! For other 7 th moves, see Sample Games. 8.cxd3 Not 8.Qxd3?Nb4 9.Nxb4 Bxb4+ 10.c3 Nxg5 11.cxb4 White has no compensation for the pawn or shattered pawn structure Nd4 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qh4 7zppzpp+-+p p N+psN snn+-wQ0 3+-+P PzP-+-zPPzP0 1tR-vL-mKL+R c6 a) Just transposing is 10...Bg7 11.dxe4 Nc2+, see below; b) Nc2+ 11.Kd1 Nxa1 12.dxe4 Bg7 13.Qg3! +/- d6 14.Nxh7! Kf7 15.Bc4! Rxh7 16.Bg5 (Weaving the net!) Be6 Not Qf8?? 17.Nxc7+ d5 18.Bxd5+ Be6 19.Bxe6#. From Diagram 4, (with 10 c6): 11.dxe4 cxd5 7zpp+p+-+p p p+psN snP+-wQ PzP-+-zPPzP0 1tR-vL-mKL+R0 We have reached a well-known position. (1) Customary has been 12.exd5 Qa5+ (12...Bg7 13.Kd1) 13.Kd1 Qxd5 14.Bd3 Ne6 15.Kc2 Qxg2 16.Re1 Be7 17.Bb5 =/+. 2) However, Fritz 8 suggests 12.exf5 Bg7 If Qg4; Nxf5 If Qa5+ 13.Kd1 Nxf5 14.Qf4 Bd6 15.Qd2 Qa4+ 16.b3 Qc6 17.Bb /+. 13.Kd1 Nxf5 14.Qb4 Bf6 15.h4 h6 16.Nf3 d6 17.Bd Kc2 =/+ Computer analysis!! Black is somewhat better, but there is still lots of play. 17.Bxd8 +- White wins! 3

4 Sample Games Prie, Eric (2360) - Haik, Aldo (2400) Paris Open (9), Nd5 Be7!? If 5... Bb4+ 6.Nxb4 [c3] Nxb4 7.e5 Qe7 8.Bb5 Ng4 (8...Qc !) If exd5 7.Bd2 8.Qe2 9.Kxd2 10.Bxe2 Nxd5?! Bb4+ Qe7+ Bxd2+ Qxe2+ White has the better ending! IM Polovodin (2355) - Tseitlin (2505), 1979, continued 10...Nb4 11.Rhe d6! c5 13.Bc4 b5 14.Bxb5 Rb8 15.Bc4 Ba6 16.Ne5 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 Nc6 18.Re7! Nxe7 19.dxe7 Rfe8 20.Re1 Rb6?! (20...d5!?) 21.Nxb6 axb6 22.b4!? (22.Kd3!!) 22...d6 23.a4!! f6 24.a5! b5 25.Kd3 Kf7 26.a6 g6 27.a7 h5 28.f4 h4 29.h3 f5 30.Re White will break up the queenside pawns, win the survivors, and then march his king up the board to assist the a- pawn, forcing Black to give up his rook. If Bg5 +/=. Bc5?! An Introduction to The Belgrade Gambit 8r+lwq-trk+0 7zppzppvlpzpp0 6-+n N Lzpn N+-0 2PzPP+-zPPzP0 1tR-vLQtR-mK Nf6 If 8... Nc5?! 9.Rxe7 Nxe7 10.Bg5 Re8 11.Ne5 Ne6 12.Qh5! Full-tilt boogie! White has a winning attack If Bd3 Nd6!? Re8 If 9... Bf6? 10.Nxf6+! Qxf6 11.Bg5! Black loses the queen! 10.Bf4 White is doing OK. 9.Rxe7?! [Nxe7+, =] Nxd5!? Apparently Black wanted to avoid 9... Nxe7 10.Nxf6+ gxf6 11.Qxd4 d5 12.Bd3 Ng6 which would be a difficult position to defend. 6.Bc4 Michail Tal stated that this move is in the spirit of "maintaining the gambit theme." Nxe4 8.Re1 10.Rxf7 Rxf7 11.Bxd5 h6 To keep the N off of g5. 12.Nxd4 d6 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bxf7+ Kxf7 15.Qh5+ White can win a pawn with 4

5 15.Qf3+ Kg8 16.Qxc6 but the text is stronger Kg8 Bishops of opposite color favor the attacker!! 16.Bxh6!! Be6 Not gxh6?? 17.Qg6+ Kh8 (17...Kf8 18.Qxh6+) 18.Qxh6+ Kg8 19.Qg6+ Kh8 (19...Kf8 20.Re1 crushes.) 20.Re1 White wins easily. 17.Bd2 and White won as follows: 17...Qd7 18.Re1 Rf8 19.Bc3 Rf7 20.Re4 Bf5 21.Rh4 Kf8 22.Qh8+ Ke7 23.Qa8!? [23.Ra4] 23...Qe6 24.Rh8 Qd7 25.Qxa7 c5 26.Qb8 Bxc2 27.Bxg7 [27.Rc8!] 27...Ke6 28.Bc3 Qc6 29.Qe8+ Qxe8 30.Rxe8+ Kd7 31.Rg8 d5 32.Rg7 Ke6 33.Rxf7 Kxf7 34.Kf1 d4 35.Ba5 c6 36.Bb6 Ke6 37.Bxc5 Kd5 38.Ba7 c5 39.Ke2 Bb1 40.a3 c4 41.Kd2 Be4 42.f3 Bf5 43.h4 Bg6 44.g Agosto, Erika - De Maio, Anna ITA-ch (Women) Formia (4), Nd5 Be7?! 6.Nxd4 Nxe4? [...0 0] 7.Nf5 g6?? Better is Qg4 Bf6 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.Nh6+ Kh8 11.Qxe4 gxh6 12.Bd3 Qe5 13.Be3! Qxe4 14.Bxe4 Re8 +/=. 8.Nfxe7 Nxe7 9.Qd4! Nxd5?? [...0 0] 10.Qxh8+ Ke7 11.Qe5+ Kf8 12.Bh Black resigned just in time to avoid 12...Kg8 13.Qg7#. Arutyunova, Diana - Mungutuul, Batbuyag Wch U10 Girls Cannes (10), Nd5 Be7?! 6.Nxd4 Nxe4?! Better is 6... Nxd5 7.exd5 Nxd4 8.Qxd Be2 =. 7.Nf5 [White threatens Qg4!] g6? 8.Nfxe7 Nxe7 9.Qd4! Nxd5?? [ Qxe4] 10.Qxh8+ Ke7 11.Qe5+ Kf8 12.Bh6+ Kg8 13.Qg7# 1 0. Hartleif, Silke - Verkooyen, Michaela Ruhrgebiet-ch U20 Girls GER, Ng5 Ne7? 8.Nxe4 Nxd5?? 9.Nd6# 1 0. Macek, Lukas - Vetrovec, Z Czech Fed-ch U14 (9),

6 7.g4!? g6 8.gxf5 gxf5 9.Ng5 Ne5 10.Qh5+ Ng6 11.Nxe4 [11.Nxh7! Rg8 12.Rg1 +-] fxe4 12.Bg Wrobel, F - Rapp, Uwe Germany, Ng5 Be7?! 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Qxe Bc4 Kh8 11.Bd3 g6 12.Bh6 Re d6 14.Rae1 Bf5 15.Qf4 Qd7 [...Ne5] 16.Bb5 Kg8?? 17.Rxe Dusova, P - Lesniakova, M CZE-ch U10 Girls, g4?! [Ng5; Bf4] fxg4??+- Black should play 7... d6!? 8.gxf5 Bxf5 9.Nd2 Ne5 10.Nxe4 c6 11.Bg2 in order to keep a small advantage. 8.Qxe4+ Kf7?? [...Ne7] 9.Ng5+ Kg8 10.Bc4 Nb4 11.Ne7# 1 0. Knox, Victor - Eley, Brian BCF-ch Coventry (6), Bc4!? Bb4+ 7.c3 dxc Qc2 Re8 10.Bf4 d6 11.Rae1 Nd2?? 12.Ng If 12...g6 13.Rxe8+ Qxe8 14.Nf6+ Kf8 15.Ngxh7+ [15.Nxe8 Nxc4] 15...Kg7 16.Nxe8+ Kxh7 17.bxc3 +-. Van der Weide, Karel (2345) Ye Rongguang (2475) Haarlem Open (4), Ng5 Ne7? An IM misses! 7...d3. 8.Nxe4 fxe4? Twice! 8... d3 prevents White's light-squared bishop from getting out quickly, but Black is still lost... 9.cxd3 fxe4 10.Qh5+! g6 11.Qe5 d6 12.Qxh8 Nxd5 13.dxe4 Qe7 14.Qd4 White is up the exchange and winning. 6

7 9.Qh5+! 10.Qe5 11.Bg5! 11.Nxc7+!! 12.Bg5 g6 Rg8 Kf7 Rg7 (12...Bg7? 13.Qf4+ Nf5 14.Bxd8) 13.Bc4+ d5 14.Bxd5+ Nxd5 15.Bxd8 wins easier. An Introduction to The Belgrade Gambit 8r+lwqr+k+0 7zppzpp+-+p0 6-+n+-+pvL0 5+-+N vl-zpQ L PzPP+-zPPzP0 1tR-+-+K+R0 13.Qf Bg7 12.Nxc7+! Kf8 13.Qf Lorenzo, Eduardo - Salgado, Oscar (2166) Galicia-ch Absoluto Mondariz (3.8), Ng5 d3 8.Qxd3?! Nxg5? 9.Bxg5 Qxg5? [...Be7] 10.Nxc7+ Kd8?? [10...Kf7 11.Nxa8 +/-] 11.Ne Tran Hoang Ngoc,Thang Vu The Nam VIE-ch U09 Vietnam (6), Ng5 Be7 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Qxe Bd3 g6 11.Bh6 Bb4+ 12.Kf1 Re8 Crushing is 13.Nf6+! Kf7 14.Nxe8 d5 Not Qf3+ 16.Bg5+ 17.Bc4! 18.Qf8+ 19.Bf4 +-. Qxe8?? Ke7 Kd6 Qe5 Ne7 15.Qf4+ Kxe8 16.a3 Be7 17.Re d6? [13...Re6! =/+] 14.Nf6+ Kh8 15.Nxe8 B d7?? [15...Qe7 +-] 16.Qf8# 1 0. Levacic, Melissa - Chatte, Anne Sophie FRA-ch U12 Girls Montlucon (6), Nd5 Nxd5?! 6.exd5 Ne7 [...Bb4+] 7.Bc4 Stronger are 7.d6! cxd6 8.Nxd4 +/-; and, 7.Qxd4! 8.Qe4+ Nf5 Qe7 7

8 9.Bd3 +/= d6 8.Nxd4 c5 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.h3?! A waste of time. 10.Qf3 d5 11.Nxc6! d5 11.Bd3 Bb c5?? 13.Bb5+! 1 0. Repkova Eid, Eva (2320) - Harvan, Martin SVK-ch Trencin (2), Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nd5 Nxd5?! 6.exd5 Nb4 7.Bc4 Qe7+ 8.Kf1 Qe4 9.Bg5!? Somewhat better is 9.Qxd4 Qxd4 10.Nxd4 Bc5 11.Be3 Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxc2 13.Bxg7 +/= Be7 10.Qd2 [10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.a3 +/-] Re1!? 11.a3 Na Nxc2? 12.Rc1; Qxc2 12.Qxc2 Nxc2 13.Bxe7 Nxa1 14.Bxf8 Kxf8 15.Ke Bxg5 12.Qxb4 Qf4 13.Bd3 Bf6 14.Bxh7+! 1 0. Perez, Manuel (2300) - Buenadicha, Ramon Mondariz op 7th Mondariz (1), Nd5 Bb4+?! 6.Nxb4 Nxb4 7.e5!? [Nxd4] Ng8 [7...Qe7 8.Bb5 =] 8.Bc4 d5 9.exd6 Qxd Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Ng5 [12.Nxd Be3] h6? [...Ne7] 13.Qh5+ Kd7 14.Nf7 +- Nf6? [14...Qd5] 15.Qb5+ c6 16.Qxb Edwards, Matthew - Hayami, Marvin Seattle Open (7), Nd5 d6!? 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nxd5 9.exd5 Bf6 10.Qe4+ Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.c3 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 [...Bd7] 14.g4 Bg6 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.g