Four Knights Game, Halloween Gambit

Four Knights Game, Halloween Gambit

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5
ECO	C47
Parent	Four Knights Game
Synonym(s)	Müller-Schulze Gambit
Chessgames.com opening explorer

The Halloween Gambit, also known as the Müller-Schulze Gambit or Leipzig Gambit, is an aggressive gambit in chess, in which White sacrifices a knight for just one pawn. It is a branch of the normally staid Four Knights Game. The theoretician Oskar Cordel reported in 1888 that Leipzig club players used it to dangerous effect but he did not believe it was sound. Their name for it, Gambit Müller und Schulze, was not after any players by those names; rather, it is a jocular German equivalent of "Smith and Jones" or "Tom, Dick and Harry".^[1] The opening is characterized by the moves

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Nc3 Nf6

4. Nxe5

The goal of the gambit is to seize the center with pawns and drive back Black's knights. After 4...Nxe5, White usually plays 5.d4, in preference to 5.f4, which does not facilitate his development.

After 5.d4 the black knight can retreat to g6 or c6. If 5...Ng6, White chases the knight on f6 with 6.e5. After 6...Ng8 7.Bc4, Euwe recommended 7...d5 8.Bxd5 c6. Fritz 8 plays this line, and after 9.Bb3 plays 9...Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Qg4 N8e7 12.Bg5 h5, and now 13.Qxe6 Qxd4 or 13.Qe4 Qb6 14.0-0-0 Nf5 15.h3 Be7 16.Be3 0-0-0 17.g4 Nxe3 18.fxe3 Nh4.

If 5...Nc6, White plays 6.d5, and if 6...Ne5, 7.f4. After 7...Ng6, the game usually continues 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6, completing the most commonly seen sequence in this opening. In the final position White is on the attack and will generally continue that with tactics such as Nb5 after a pawn trade at d6. However, Black can return the piece with a slightly better endgame after making White over-extend his pawns by 5... Nc6 6.d5 Ne5 7.f4 Neg4 8.e5 Bc5 9.exf6 Nxf6 and now White's best is heading for an uninspiring endgame by 10.Qe2+ Qe7 11.Qxe7 Kxe7.

Critical lines

Grandmaster (GM) Larry Kaufman wrote in 2004 that the Müller-Schulze Gambit is refuted by 4...Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Bb4! 7.dxc6 Nxe4 8.Qd4 Qe7, which he attributes to the Polish IM Jan Pinski.^[2][3] Pinski in 2003 analyzed 9.Qxg7 Nxc3+ 10.Be3 Nd5+ 11.c3 Rf8 12.cxb4 Nxe3 13.fxe3 Qxb4+, writing that "Black is very close to winning".^[4] After the alternative 9.Be3 0-0 10.Bd3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Ba5 12.0-0 Bb6 13.Qf4 Bxe3 14.fex3 dxc6, Black had a superior pawn structure in Gaillard–Platel, France 2003 (0-1,30). Black can also play 9...f5. The game Sigfusson (2288)–Bellin (2381), Reykjavik 2009, continued 10.cxd7+ Bxd7 11.Be2 Bc5 12.Bh5+ Kd8! 13.Qd3 [13.Qd5 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qh4+ 16.g3 Qxh5 17.Rd1 Qe8 18.Qxb7 Qxe3+ 19.Kf1 Qe4–+] 13...Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Nxc3 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.bxc3 Bc6, giving Black the better endgame which he won in 52 moves.^[5]

According to Max Euwe's opening series volume 11, Black has a decisive advantage after 4... Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d5 8.Bxd5 c6.^[1]

Reversed

A similar gambit can be used by Black: after 4.g3, Black can play 4...Nxe4!? This line is arguably sounder than its White counterpart because 4.g3 weakened the f3 square. Moreover, White cannot play the line recommended by Kaufman with colors reversed because 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 d4 7.Bb5? dxc3 8.Nxe5? Qd5 9.Qe2? loses to 9...Qxh1+. However, with the pawn on g3, Nh4 is possible and it should be easier to castle.^[3]

Illustrative games

The following speed chess games show what can befall an unprepared player of the Black pieces:

Brause-N.N., German Internet Chess Server 1997 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 8.Qf3 f6 9.O-O d5 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 N8e7? 12.Qxf6!! gxf6? 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Bh6#

Brause-N.N., Internet Chess Club 1997 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Nb8 7.e5 Ng8 8.d6 Nc6 9.Nb5 cxd6 10.exd6 Bxd6? (10...Qf6) 11.Qxd6 Qe7+ 12.Be3 Qxd6 13.Nxd6+ Kf8 14.Bc4 Ne5 15.Bb3 Ne7 16.0-0-0 f6 17.f4 Ng4 18.Rhe1 (threatening 19.Bc5 and 20.Nxc8 Rxc8 21.Rxd7) 1-0

This game, played in a Halloween gambit thematic tournament, won the prize for the most spectacular game won by White:

Torrecillas (2389)-Keiser (1932) e-mail, 2003 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 Bb4 8.Qf3 f6 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 d5 11.exd6 cxd6 12.Ba3 N8e7 13.Rfe1 Qc7 14.Bb3 Kd8 15.c4 Bd7 16.Rad1 Qc6 17.Qc3 a5 18.d5 Qc7 19.c5 b5 20.Qd2 b4 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Bb2 a4 23.Bc4 Ke8 24.a3 Ne5 25.Ba2 b3 26.cxb3 axb3 27.Bxb3 Kf7 28.f4 N5g6 29.Re6 Qxf4 30.Qe2 Qb8 31.Ba2 Qa7+ 32.Kh1 Kf8 33.d6 Ng8 34.Qc4 Nh6 35.Bxf6! gxf6 (35...Bxe6 36.Qxe6 gxf6 37.Qxf6+ Nf7 38.d7 mates shortly) 36.Rxf6+ Ke8 (36...Kg7 37.Qc3) 37.Rxg6 hxg6 38.Qc3 Rh7 39.Qf6 Ba4 40.Qxg6+ Nf7 41.Rf1 Bc2 [41...Bc6 42.Bxf7+ Qxf7 (42...Rxf7 43.Qg8+ Kd7 44.Rxf7+) 43.Rxf7 Rxf7 44.Qg8+ Kd7 (44...Rf8 45.Qe6+ Kd8 46.Qe7+ Kc8 47.Qc7#) 45.Qxf7+ Kxd6 46.h4+-] 42.Qxc2 1-0 (annotations from chessville.com)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} A Breeze in the sleepy four knights game
2. ^ Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage in Black and White, Random House Puzzles & Games, 2004, p. 328. ISBN 0-8129-3571-3.
3. ^ ^{a b} UON13 Halloween Edition - Critical lines in the Halloween
4. ^ Jan Pinski, The Four Knights, Gloucester Publishers, 2003, p. 181. ISBN 1-85744-311-X.
5. ^ Andrew Martin, "Your Chess Questions Answered by Andrew Martin", chess.com, 03/09/2009

External links

• Halloween Gambit Video and explanation
• Article which covers this opening in depth - Part 1
• Article which covers this opening in depth - Part 2
• The Halloween-Attack in the Four Knight Game
• Another Article
• Two articles about Halloween gambit written by Marcin Maciaga
• A leading expert on the opening
• Chess database
• Opening Report: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 (60 games)