Budapest Gambit
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The Budapest Defence is a chess opening beginning with the moves
- 1.d4 Nf6
- 2.c4 e5.
With his second move Black launches an immediate strike on White's centre, sacrificing, at least temporarily, a pawn to do so. White most often will not cling to the extra pawn since that ties his pieces to defence and often gives Black a lead in development. Instead White usually develops his pieces and hopes to gain a lead in development while Black spends time regaining his pawn. After 3.dxe5 (the only serious try for an advantage) Black must move his knight again.
3...Ne4!? (the Fajarowicz Variation), a true gambit, is occasionally seen. 4.a3! (avoiding the awkward ...Bb4+) is considered best, when one line is 4...d6 5.Qc2! Bf5 6.Nc3! and now 6...Nxc3 7.Qxf5 or 6...Ng3 7.e4 Nxh1 8.exf5 favors White. More common is 3...Ng4, when play most often continues 4.Bf4 (the greedy 4.Qd4!? d6 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.Nf3 (6.Qxg7?? Be5) 0-0 7.Bg5! is little-seen but playable) Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 (6.Nc3 Bxc3+! (6...Qe7 allows 7.Rc1 or 7.Qb3, keeping White's pawn structure intact) 7.bxc3 Qe7 8.Qd5!? is possible, when Black's best is the gambit 8...f6 9.exf6 Nxf6, followed by attacking White's weak doubled c-pawns) Qe7 7.a3 Ngxe5! 8.Nxe5 (the opening's detractors have called the famous Kieninger trap 8.axb4?? Nd3# "the only reason to play the Budapest") Nxe5 9.e3! Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 with a small advantage for White.
The Budapest Defence is rarely played in top-level chess, but it is occasionally seen at amateur levels. It has two codes in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, A51 and A52.
- A51: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5
- A52: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4
The 7.a3 variation
The "almost forced" moves
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After the introductory moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.a3 we get the initial position of this variation. The Bb4 is attacked but Black does not have to move it for the moment, and instead he plays 7...Ngxe5 to get its pawn back. The important point is that White cannot win a piece with 8.axBb4?? because of 8...Nd3 checkmate: the Kieninger trap. Now Black threatens both the take the c4 pawn or to take the Nf3 in order to saddle White with doubled pawns. Unfortunately 8.e3?! will not do either, because of 8...NxNf3+ 9.QxNf3 BxNd2+ 10.KxNd2 when White cannot castle anymore. So White is more or less forced to exchange a pair of knights with 8.NxNe5 NxNe5.
White still cannot win a piece with 9.axBb4?? because the mate threat by Nd3# is still in force. White cannot win the piece either by 9.BxNe5?! because Black would play the intermediary move 9...BxNd2+ 10.QxNd2 QxBe5 and the position is dead equal. So White has to consider 9.e3 in order to protect the c4-pawn that was attacked by the Ne5.
Now there is no more mating threat in d3 and the Bb4 is really attacked, so Black has to move it. Any retreat in a5, c5 or d6 is considered dubious because the Bishop can later be harassed by the advance of White pawns like b2-b4 and c4-c5, so it is considered best to exchange it with 9...BxNd2+ 10.QxBd2 when we get the real starting position of this variation.
Fighting the bishop pair
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White has a tiny edge with two static advantages:
- the bishop pair,
- a space advantage on the queenside.
On the other side, Black has not a lot of things to be proud of, as there are no targets in White's camp. Still we can find some small assets:
- Black's Ne5 can be considered as powerful, because it attacks the c4-pawn and restricts the Bf1 by taking off the natural squares d3 and f3. Moreover White can generally not consider exchanging this Knight because that would mean losing its bishop pair, and thus losing a chunk of its advantage.
- the Bc8 can potentially become much better than its counterpart the Bf1, if it makes it to the good squares b7 or c6, while the Bf1 remains restricted by the Ne5.
This explains the most natural plans for both sides:
- White will try a minority attack on the queenside, in order to increase its space advantage and to create some weaknesses in the black pawns (e.g. an isolated pawn or a backward pawn). So White will try to use the advances b2-b4 or c4-c5 in good conditions.
- Black will try to keep the position closed, most importantly keep the c4-pawn where it is in order to keep the Bf1 at bay. This can be achieved by moves like b7-b6 and d7-d6. Moreover Black Will try to develop its Bc8 on the good a8-h1 diagonal.
Examples in practice
The first move by Black has to be 10...d6! because otherwise White plays 11.c5! and gets a clear advantage immediately. For example 10...b6?? loses on 11.Qd5 with a fork on the Ra8 and the Ne5, and 10...O-O?! is bad because of 11.c5! when Black should not take with 11...Qxc5? because of 12.Rc1 Qe7 13.Rxc7 and White is winning already.
So after 10...d6! White can try (and has tried) about any move that goes into the direction of the plan given above:
- The immediate 11.c5!? is a possible pawn sacrifice in order to open some diagonals for the bishops. White gets a powerful attack for his pawn but nothing decisive, for example 11...dxc5 12.Rc1 f6!? (overprotecting the Ne5 in order to avoid the forks like 13.Qc3 or 13.Qd5 which would allow White to regain its pawn) 13.Qc2 b6 14.BxNe5 QxBe5 15.Bb5+ Kf8.
- With 11.Qc3 White prepares c4-c5 and puts pressure on the Ne5 (the d6-pawn is now pinned) and on the g7-pawn behind. Black can continue its natural plan with 11...b6, then White can consider sacrificing a pawn with 12.c5!? bxc5 13.BxNe5 QxBe5 14.QxQe5+ dxQe5 in order to destroy Black's pawn structure. However a lot of pieces have been exchanged in the process and the bishop pair has disappeared so White may have difficulties to create an advantage now. Black's best bet is to be courageous and sacrifice all the weak pawns in order to activate its pieces, for example 15.Rc1!? Rb8! 16.Rxc5 Rxb2 17.Rxc7 O-O! and White has serious problems of development.
External links
- Harding, Tim (December 1997). The Kibitzer: How Stands the "Faj"?. ChessCafe.com.
- Harding, Tim (November 2000). The Kibitzer: Playing the Budapest in Budapest (PDF). ChessCafe.com.
References
- Lalic, Bogdan, "The Budapest Gambit," Batsford 1998
- Tseitlin & Glaskov, "The Budapest for the Tournament Player," Batsford 1992