Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Bc5/4. c3/4...Nf6/5. d4/5...exd4/6. b4

Dubov Gambit rd bd qd kd rd pd pd pd pd pd pd pd nd nd bd pl bl pd pl pl nl pl pl pl pl rl nl bl ql kl rl Dubov Gambit 6. b4 White sacrifices the d4 pawn for quick development and an open d file. White also attacks the Black bishop on c5, forcing it to move. Black can play either 6...Bb6 or 6...Be7. In contrast to the Evans gambit, White doesn't sacrifice the b pawn. Because of this White has the threat of b5, forcing the knight to move to a5 or e7. The Dubov gambit is named after the Russian GM Daniil Dubov, who used it to great success against Russian GM Sergey Karjakin in 2020 at the Russian Championship in Moscow. Before GM Daniil Dubov popularised 6. b4, it was used very rarely in high level chess except for a 9 year old Dutch NM that used it to defeat Anish Giri in 2009 and Levon Aronian in 2008 but lost to GM Gukesh in 2009. Recently, the Dubov gambit has been used in online games by very strong players including GM Hikaru Nakamura, former world chess champion Ding Liren and GM Daniil Dubov himself. Theory table 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. b4 6 7 8 9 ...Bb6 e5d5 exf6dxc4 Qe2+Be6 = ...Bb6 e5Ne4 Bd5Nxc3 Nxc3dxc3 = ...Be7 e5Ne4 b5Na5 Bd3Nxc3 =