Welcome to a series of studies I wanted to produce for lichess on building an e4 repertoire. For this repertoire I wanted to ensure that white gets a decent position where he has a big lead in development and is able to cause a lot of problems for black in the opening. For this reason a lot of the openings I have opted for are gambits, which trade off material (in this case 2 pawns) for fast development and a very active position. If black is able to ride the wave he will have a good position but will need to find a way to wrestle back the initiative that white gains from the upcoming position.
The Danish Gambit, although never seen at the top level due to its dubious nature of sacrificing two whole pawns for an attack, does enjoy some popularity in club chess where more accurate defences are not as common.1e4...One of the most popular and principled moves for white. Here white looks to develop his pieces quickly and efficiently and control the centre with one of his central pawns1...e5A classical reply by black. Black achieves the same thing as white with this move.2d4...White immediately challenges the centre, undeterred by the potential loss of a precious central pawn.
A less common reply by white but interesting nonetheless for our repertoire. White can opt for a number of different other ways to proceed against e5 such as the extremely popular 2.Nf3, Bc4, Nc3 or f4. The problems with all these moves is that white has to learn a fair bit of theory for all of them. In the case of Nf3, White needs to know what to do against Nf6 the petroff, potentially know a lot of Ruy Lopez theory (assuming he is not playing the scotch or the italian game that is!) the philodor (2...d6). Even with the king's gambit with f4, white needs to know a myriad of reliable black replies to gain the upper hand.2...exd4This is black's only challenging response all others will move likely lead to an advantage for white2...Nc63.d5White solidifies his control of the centreNce7This steers into an uncommon opening known as the Nimzovitsch. It is by no means bad for black. White will enjoy some extra space in the centre for his pieces and slight advantage.2...d63.dxe5dxe54.Qxd8+Kxd8Black's king can no longer castle. Although it is a nearly symmetrical position, white will enjoy slightly easier development due to having the right to castle2...Nf63.dxe5Nxe44.Qd5Nc55.Be3White will enjoy a decent game here. He has good central control and a very active position3c3...White offers a second pawn. Again it would be rude for black not to accept the invitation3.Nf3If white prefers he can play this move to transpose into a scotch game. This move order has the advantage of avoiding petroff theory3...dxc33...d3With this move black hopes to stymie white's development4.Bxd3⩲White will get a slightly better position here. Typically he will play c4 and Nc3 and have excellent control of the centreNc65.c4Bc56.Nc3d67.Nf3Nf68.O-OWhite enjoys easy development3...Qe73...d54.exd5Qxd55.cxd44Bc4...White carries on with development, unaware that he is about to lose another pawn4...cxb2Again, black has gone this far, he takes the juicy second pawn4...d6Not really any other alternatives that offer much for white5.Nxc3White gets a nice comfortable position for the loss of one pawn5Bxb2...For 2 pawns what has white gained? White has complete control of the centre, better development and a strong bishop pair eyeing up the opposition king. Black must tread carefully now. Here we will look at a continuation of what not to do against the danish gambit5...Qg5?A clear mistake but has been played a lot by lichess players. Here black was hoping to exploit the weakness left by the white bishop. However, he has completely neglected his development and will face swift punishment.5...Nf66.e55...d56.Bxd5Nf67.Bxf7+Kxf78.Qxd8Bb4+9.Qd2Bxd2+10.Nxd27.Nc3Nxd58.Nxd5c69.Nf6+gxf610.Qxd8+Kxd811.Bxf6+Kc712.Bxh85...Bb4+6.Nc36.Kf1Bxc3+7.Bxc3Nf68.e5Ne49.Bxf7+Kxf710.Qd5+6Nf3Qxg2??7Rg1Qh3Now white has an excellent tactic to nab the queen7...Bb4+8.Ke2Qh39.Bxf7+Kd89...Kxf710.Ng5+10.Bxg7Ne711.Ng5Qh412.Ne6#From the game: Bird - Lasker 18968Bxf7+Kd8Black's position is totally lost now. There is a number of ways to play here8...Kxf79.Ng5+Ke810.Nxh39Rxg7Bxg710Bxg7Ne711Bxh8...White has managed to grab an excellent winning position here. He is up in material and Black's king is far from safe here.