1. e4 e5 2. d4
The Danish Gambit is an attacking chess opening for White that begins 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3, offering one and often two pawns for a huge lead in development. If Black takes everything with 3... dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2, White ends up two pawns down but with both bishops raking the kingside on open diagonals. It is the all-in cousin of the Scotch Game: where the Scotch recaptures on d4 and plays a normal position, the Danish trades material for time and immediate threats.
The gambit starts with 1. e4 e5 2. d4. After 2... exd4, White does not recapture: 3. c3 offers the c-pawn as well. The main acceptance runs 3... dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2, the full Danish: White is two pawns down, but the bishops on b2 and c4 point straight at g7 and f7, and every White piece develops with a threat. Black can also decline at several moments: 3... d5 strikes back in the center immediately, and 3... d3 hands the pawn back to keep lines closed. Each branch leads to a completely different kind of game, which is why training the move orders matters more here than in quieter openings.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2
The defining position: Black has taken both pawns and White has taken the whole board. The b2-bishop owns the long diagonal toward g7 and the c4-bishop targets f7, the weakest square in Black’s camp. White develops every piece with tempo (Nc3, Qb3 or Qd1–b3 ideas, quick castling) and aims to open lines before Black finishes development. Black’s extra pawns mean nothing until the pieces are out.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qb3
Black develops with check and tries to castle out of danger. White blocks with 6. Nc3 and plays 7. Qb3, forming a battery against f7 behind the c4-bishop while attacking the b4-bishop. After 7... Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 the queen joins the b2-bishop on the long diagonal, and if a castled Black ever grabs the e4-pawn with the f6-knight, Qxg7 is checkmate. Black must defend g7 precisely while still two pawns up but badly behind in development.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 d5 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxd8 Bb4+ 9. Qd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2
Black’s most respected reply: instead of clinging to the pawns, 5... d5 returns material to kill the attack. The forcing sequence trades queens and leaves a materially level, simplified position; this is the line that pushed the Danish out of top-level play. White still has the better bishop on b2 and the healthier structure to press with, but the fireworks are over; you need to be ready to play a real endgame.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. cxd4 Nc6 6. Nf3
Black refuses the second pawn and counters in the center at once, the classic recipe against any early gambit. White recaptures on d4 and gets a free-flowing open game: the d4-pawn controls the center and Black’s early queen on d5 becomes a target for Nc3 with tempo. Material is equal and the position is sound for both sides; White’s edge is easy development and familiarity with the structure.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nf6 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. fxg7 Bxg7 10. Bxg7 Rg8 11. Bf6+
Natural development with 5... Nf6 walks into 6. e5, kicking the knight while both bishops stay trained on the kingside. The greedy follow-up 6... d5 7. exf6 dxc4 looks like it wins a piece, but the forcing line through 11. Bf6+ leaves White picking up material with a continuing attack against the stranded king. Black does better keeping the position closed, but the margin for error is tiny, which is exactly why this gambit scores so well in practice.
Facing the Danish with Black, the first rule is to respect it: this is not a junk gambit, and grabbing pawns on autopilot loses games fast. The classic equalizer is the central break ...d5, and you can play it at two moments. Immediately with 3... d5 you decline the second pawn, trade in the center, and reach a normal open position where White’s attack never gets started. Or accept everything and play the Schlechter Defense, 5... d5: you hand one pawn back, force a queen trade, and reach a level simplified position where White’s raking bishops have nothing left to rake. Both approaches share the same idea: return material to neutralize development, the standard antidote to every romantic gambit. What you should not do is hold both pawns and develop slowly. The bishops on b2 and c4 aim at g7 and f7, the queen comes to b3, and one natural-looking move (castling into the long diagonal, snatching the e4-pawn) can lose immediately. If you do keep the material, defend f7 and g7 concretely, develop toward the kingside, and aim to trade queens at the first opportunity. The Danish player wants chaos in the first fifteen moves; your job is to make the game boring, and ...d5 is how you do it.
Sacrifice one or two pawns for time, then convert time into threats before Black catches up. Get the bishops to c4 and b2, point everything at f7 and g7, bring the queen to b3 and castle fast. Open lines at any cost: every trade of threats favors you while Black’s queenside sleeps. If Black returns material with ...d5, switch gears: take the better structure and bishop into a simplified position instead of forcing an attack that is no longer there.
Counter in the center with ...d5: immediately on move 3, or after taking both pawns via the Schlechter Defense with 5... d5. Returning a pawn to trade queens defuses the whole opening. If you keep the material, defend f7 and g7 concretely, avoid pawn grabs that open the long diagonal, and prioritize castling and development over holding every pawn. Once the queens are off or your pieces are out, the extra material decides.
The Danish Gambit is a child of the romantic era of chess, when sacrificing pawns for open lines and a king hunt was the highest style. It was developed and popularized in the second half of the 19th century, and its name reflects the Danish players who championed it in that period. For decades it was a feared practical weapon, but defensive technique caught up: the equalizing method of returning material with ...d5, associated with the Austrian master Carl Schlechter, showed that Black could trade down to a level position, and the gambit faded from elite play. It never faded from club chess. The combination of simple development schemes, brutal punishment for natural-looking mistakes, and short forcing lines keeps it a popular surprise weapon in blitz, rapid and over-the-board club games to this day: less an attempt to refute Black’s opening than a bet that the defender will not find fifteen precise moves with the clock running.
Let's learn the Danish Gambit! You will sacrifice a pawn, and then another one, and then ANOTHER one. Yes, a 3 pawn sacrifice in your first 4 moves. In return you'll get a huge attack on your opponent. Let's begin with moving the King's pawn to e4.
Now for pawn sacrifice #1. Pawn to d4.
Remember, these are sacrifices! So we don't take back. Now for pawn sacrifice #2, pawn to c3.
Now for pawn sacrifice #3: bishop to c4.
OK, we lost 3 pawns in 4 moves. This is like shooting yourself in the foot 3 times at the start of a marathon. But it turns out that when played right, our foot with holes in it is faster than our opponent's. Bishop takes b2, setting up 2 extremely powerful bishops along the diagonals, piercing our opponent's position..
Black is giving us a check right away. Let's use it as an excuse to develop another piece with knight to c3.
Now we get to set up a powerful attack. Queen to b3 both attacks Black's bishop and sets up a battery on the f7 pawn.
Um, hello? Black just hung their bishop. Queen takes on b4.
Well that was easy.
Black took our knight, so it's best to take back with our queen here, setting up a strong attack on the dark squares. Queen takes c3.
Let's continue developing with knight to f3.
Now is a good time to castle kingside ourselves.
Checkmate in 1: can you find it? Yup, it's queen to g7.
Oh hi there mr. king.
OK this is going to sound crazy but let's play yet another gambit. Let's develop our knight from g1 to e2 losing our e4 pawn.
Now we can play queen b3, attacking Black's bishop and setting up our strong battery.
In this case, let's take with our bishop to keep the threat on both the f7 and g7 pawns.
This is just a brutal position for Black. Take a moment and look at the board. All our pieces are out, and pointed directly at Black's weakest pawns. From here, we can simply castle kingside.
How does Black even play this position? It is impossible. The computer thinks that despite being a few pawns down, our position is so good we actually have a +3 point advantage. White wins over 80% of the time from here.
Black is trying to catch up in development. Let's not let them. Pawn to e5 kicking away the knight.
This was Black's only move. Let's take their knight with pawn to f6.
OK now we trade queens! Queen takes d8. This makes black lose the right to castle.
Let's continue with our pawn attack. Pawn takes g7.
Black totally forgot about our bishop on b2! Bishop takes g7 and the game is essentially over.
Let's toss in a check because why not. Bishop to f6 check.
Black's position is just destroyed. No two-ways around it. Good job.
A blunder from black! Can you find the best move? Hint: Queen takes h5.
Well done! Black really did not want to move their knight back, and for that they just lost the piece altogether.
At master level, modern theory considers it risky: Black equalizes by returning material with ...d5, either on move 3 or via the Schlechter Defense with 5... d5. At club level it is a different story: White’s development lead creates problems most opponents cannot solve over the board, and it scores very well in practice, especially in faster time controls.
There is no outright refutation, but the best practical answer is the central counter ...d5. Played on move 3 it declines the second pawn and kills the attack before it starts; played after accepting both pawns (the Schlechter Defense) it returns one pawn, trades queens, and reaches a level simplified position.
Taking both pawns is objectively playable, but only if Black knows the follow-up, above all the freeing break ...d5. Holding the material while developing slowly is exactly what White hopes for: the bishops on b2 and c4 plus a queen on b3 generate threats against f7 and g7 that punish natural moves.
They reach similar pawn sacrifices by different move orders. The Danish goes 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 directly, and White is often willing to give up a second pawn on b2. The Göring Gambit arises from the Scotch move order with Nf3 already played, which keeps the gambit to one pawn in most lines and changes the available defenses.
Yes, with the right expectations. It teaches the value of development, open lines and the initiative faster than almost any opening, and its forcing lines are easy to train. Just learn the lines where Black declines or returns the material too; you will not get a kingside attack in every game.
Reading about an opening is step one. The trainer at the top of this page drills all 15 lines against the moves real opponents play. The first lines are free.
Train the Danish Gambit now