Latvian Gambit

Latvian Gambit is a rare gambit against King’s Pawn Opening and starts with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!?. The opening is also sometimes referred to as Greco Countergambit, because it was studied by the 17th century Italian Master, Gioachino Greco. This also means that the opening is quite old, but it never gained widespread popularity despite the efforts of Latvian chess masters to promote it through extensive analysis.

Fischer and Capablanca’s occasional losses in games demonstrate the potential trickiness of the Latvian Gambit, highlighting its ability to catch opponents off guard. Even Spassky, known for his love of the King’s Gambit as white, didn’t shy away from employing the Latvian Gambit in several of his games. This shows that the opening can be a valuable surprise weapon for those willing to embrace its unconventional nature.

Winning percentages on both sides

Main Ideas

The Latvian gambit makes the impression as if black was inspired by King’s Gambit, however, playing in such fashion with colors reversed is not as effective due to the extra tempo white has with Nf3: after only two moves, black’s two pawns are hanging already. In any case, white is tempted to capture at least one of these pawns, which then leads to opening up the files.

Black’s main idea in the Latvian Gambit is to ideally open up the f-file to pile up his heavy pieces on the file and keep white’s kingside under pressure. A similar idea is used in the Schliemann Defense of the Ruy Lopez, which could be seen as a better version of the Latvian Gambit as the e5-pawn is defended. The idea of clearing up the f-file early on comes at the cost of weakening King’s Short diagonal, so white will try to exploit it as quickly as possible with Ne5, Qh5+ ideas. Black needs to prevent that with …Qf6 usually to support the advance of …g6. Sometimes the queen goes to g5 or g6 to target vulnerable spots in white’s camp.

Latvian Gambit Theory

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5, white can accept the gambit in two ways: 3.exf5 and 3.Nxe5. Depending on how white captures, black seeks to maintain initiative. For example, After 3.exf5 black advances its central pawn, 3…e4, in a similar fashion to 3…d4 in the Albin Counter Gambit. Black hopes to get a firm grip on the center with …d5 later and regain the pawn on f5 with …Bxf5. However, the main way to accept the gambit is by capturing the other pawn, 3.Nxe5, which opens up the queen’s way to h5, forcing black to deal with this deadly threat. The best way to decline the gambit is to develop further with 3.Nc3, supporting e4. On the other hand, the appealing 3.Bc4? is not as powerful as it seems at first sight, and this gives black the biggest chance to fight for an advantage.

Latvian Gambit Accepted: 3.exf5

The question for white after 3.exf5 e4 is where to move the f3-Knight. The most intuitive reaction is 4.Ne5, creating all sorts of threats on the king’s short diagonal. Black has to immediately deal with the problematic Qh5+ and the only reasonable way to do that is 4…Nf6. White may then insist on delivering a check on e8-h5 by playing 5.Be2, thus renewing the threat. However, this does not give much headache to black after 5…Be7, because of 6.Bh5+ Kf8 7.Nf7 Qe8 8.Nxh8 Qxh5 and black is doing perfectly fine.

A much stronger continuation for white would be to fight for the center with 5.d4. Now 5…exd3 does not make much sense, because after 6.Bxd3 white would be significantly better. So 5…d6 is a more viable option for black, intending …Bxf5 and chasing white’s centralized knight away. After 6.Ng4 Bxf5 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6, black would have decent practical chances thanks to their lead in development.

Latvian Gambit Accepted: 3.Nxe5 (Main Line)

The main way to accept the gambit is 3.Nxe5, threatening Qh5+. A routine move like 3…Nf6 to prevent white delivering a check on the King’s short diagonal would not be the best option for white due to 4.Bc4 Qe7 5.d4.

Instead, 3…Qf6 is commonly preferred, attacking the knight. Although 4.d4 is objectively the strongest move here, retreating the knight right away to c4 is a trending alternative.

A sample variation after 4.Nc4 would be 4…fxe4 5.Nc3 Qg6 6.d3. Capturing on d3 would give white a significant advantage after 6…exd3 7.Bxd3 Qxg2 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qe5+ Ne7 10.Be4, defending the rook on h1, and white will capture black’s rook in the next move.

4.d4 is three times more commonly played than 4.Nc4 and it is a multi-purpose move. The main variation proceeds with 4…d6 5.Nc4 fxe4 6.Nc3 Qg6 7.f3 and black has several options here: 7…Be7, 7…exf3, 7…Nc6.

If 7…exf3, then 8.Qxf3 Nf6 9.Ne3, with the idea of Ncd5 and freeing up the c4 square of the bishop, 9…Be7 10.Ncd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5, threatening a knight fork on c7.

Black may also intend to castle with 9…Be7, then white seizes initiative with 10.Bd3 Qh5 11.Qxh5+ Nxh5 12.0-0, with a significant advantage in development. It is also not easy for black to untangle the queenside.

Latvian Gambit Declined: 3.Nc3

Declining the Gambit with 3.Nc3 can lead to a comfortable position for white after 3…fxe4 4.Nxe5 (4.Nxe4 is not as good due to 4…d5) Nf6 5.Ng4, with the idea of removing the defender of e4, 5..c6 (trying to defend with 6…d5 would fail to 7.Nxf6+ gxf6 8.Qh5+ followed by 9.Qxd5) 6.Nxf6+ Qxf6 7.Nxe4 Qe6, pinning the knight on e4, 8.Qe2 and white is just a pawn up and should be able to capitalize on their material advantage without any issue.

If 4…Qf6 then white can focus on developing their pieces on the queenside: 5.d4 exd3 6.Nxd3 c6 7.Bf4 d5 8.Qe2+ Be7 9.0-0-0 and white has a harmonious piece placement.

Latvian Gambit Declined: 3.Bc4

It might be highly attractive for white to bring out the light-squared bishop to its natural square with 3.Bc4?, eyeing the freshly weakened f7 square. However, this is one of the ways that white can go wrong in their response against the Latvian Gambit. The reasons for that are very concrete: 3..fxe4 4.Nxe5 Qg5!, double attacking the knight on e5 and the undefended g2 pawn,

instead of 4…d5?, which allows 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Nxg6 Nf6 7.Qe5+ with an advantage for white.

White’s best reply against 4…Qg5 is 5.d4, defending the knight with tempo. After 5…Qxg2, a series of semi-forced captures starts: 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Bf7+ Kd8 8.Bxg6 Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 Qxc1 10.Nf7+ Ke8 (10…Ke7?? 11.Qe5#) 11.Nxh8+ hxg6 12.Qxg6+ Kd8 13.Nf7+ Ke7 with a highly chaotic and unclear position for both sides. Black is up on the material but needs to be careful not to get checkmated unexpectedly.

Common Traps in Latvian Gambit

Trap №1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 fxe4 4.Nxe5 Nf6 5.Nf7 Qe7 6.Nxh8 d5 7.Bb3?? White is up material, but it is necessary to keep the light-squared bishop in the f1-a6 diagonal because otherwise black has the crushing 7…Bg4, and white cannot save the queen without allowing a checkmate. For example, 8.f3 exf3+ 9.Kf2 Ne4 10.Kf1 Qh4, threatening mate on f2, 11.g3 Qh3+ 12.Ke1 f2#

Trap №2

1.e5 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 Nc6?, correct way to respond against 3.Bc4 is 3…fxe4, 4.d4 Qe7 5.0-0 fxe4, white has a huge lead in the development and is ready to punish black’s loss of time in the opening, 6.Ng5 Nf6 7.Bf7+ Kd8 8.dxe5, opening up the d-file is crucial for the following tactic after 8…Nxe5 9.Ne6+, and thanks to the pin on the d-file, black has to give up the queen.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

In the best-case scenario, the Latvian Gambit grants black a space advantage in the center and the opportunity to control the open f-file for a potent kingside attack. However, aside from 3.Bc4, white has several viable options to handle the gambit without facing significant difficulties. As a result, the opening’s soundness is questionable. Its high-risk, high-reward nature may not be suitable for serious, classical time control games. Nevertheless, for casual games, the Latvian Gambit can still be an enjoyable and surprising way to spark exciting battles on the chessboard.

Written by

Deniz Tasdelen, National Master

National Master with over 20 years of experience. He has participated in many prestigious tournaments, including the European and World Youth Chess Championships.

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FAQ’s

How good is Latvian Gambit?

The Latvian Gambit is considered an aggressive and somewhat risky opening for Black in chess. It can be effective in surprise attacks or in games at the club level. However, at higher levels of play, it’s less popular due to its vulnerability to well-prepared opponents.

Is the Latvian Gambit refuted?

While not officially “refuted”, the Latvian Gambit is often seen as a dubious choice against well-prepared players. Advanced theory and analysis have provided various ways for White to gain a significant advantage, reducing its effectiveness in professional play.

Who made the Latvian Gambit?

The Latvian Gambit, originally known as the Greco Counter-Gambit, was named after the Latvian players who popularized it in the early 20th century.