Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Nc3/3...Nf6/4. Nxe5/4...Nxe4

4...Nxe4?! Mirrored Halloween (informal) C47 Halloween Gambit Black unusually declines the gambit and tries to mirror the Halloween Attack's sacrifice (4. Nxe5) to counter the Halloween Attack. Although this recovers the pawn, it ignores the hanging knight and gives White back a drawish position, with higher winning chances for White. Worse, it unnecessarily keeps the position symmetrical, which means White still has a first move advantage. This line has no established name, but it is informally called "Mirrored Halloween" here, because this is Black's mirroring response to the Halloween Attack's main move (4. Nxe5). There are usually 2 main moves White will most commonly try: 5. Nxc6, taking the black c6 knight and ignoring the hanging black e4 knight, and 5. Nxe4, taking the hanging black e4 knight, ignoring the hanging white knight on e5. 5. Nxc6 White takes the knight on c6, attacking the queen. Because Black has a hanging knight on e4, his only move is to counterattack by playing 5...Nxc3!, counterattacking the white queen. If White wishes to deal with this, either 6. dxc3, removing the attacking knight, and Black will also remove his own attacking knight by playing either 6...dxc6, or 6...bxc6; or 6. Nxd8, trading queens; will be good options according to Stockfish. If White plays 6. Nxd8, Black will respond with 6...Nxd1, recovering material. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe4 5. Nxc6 Nxc3 6. Nxd8 Nxd1 Position after Black's 6...Nxd1. 5. Nxe4 White takes the knight on e4. Black will likely follow up with 5...Nxe5, recovering material. 6. d4 is a good center attacking move for White that also gains tempo by kicking the black knight. The position is very drawish, with White being slightly better by having a better center. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 Nxe5 6. d4 Position after White's 6. d4. 5. Qh5 This is an uncommon move and also White's most aggressive option, directly threatening 6. Qxf7#, forcing Black into defense of their f7-square. Black can make a lot of mistakes from here. 5...Nxe5?? Black plays the common blunder 5...Nxe5??, hoping to remove an attacker of the f7-square and trade pieces, White can take the knight with check (6. Qxe5+!), forcing the black king to cover, and now there is no way to save the e4 knight, there are simply too many attackers. If Black plays 6...Qe7 (Black's best try, since the queen x-ray defends the knight and counterattacks the queen), then White can play 7. Qxe7+!, then take the black knight on e4. 5...g6? If Black instead plays the also common mistake 5...g6?, mimicking the Wayward Queen Attack's most common defence, Black loses a pawn after this sequence: 6. Nxc6! (counterattacking the black queen) gxh5 7. Nxd8 Nxc3 8. Nxf7 (White desperado sacrifices the white knight for a pawn, knowing the knight is doomed anyway, and Black cannot sacrifice his knight for any compensation, and if Black retreats, White can just escape with the free pawn.) Kxf7 9. dxc3. 5...Nd6 This is Black's fairly rare but best try, retreating the black knight to defend f7. But White can lunge forward with 6. Nd5, playing aggressively. White has very good winning chances here in this position. Black has to play precisely to survive in this position. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe4 5. Qh5 Nd6 6. Nd5 Position after White's move of 6. Nd5. Theory table 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe4 5. Nxc6 Nxc3 6. dxc3 dxc6 = 5. Nxc6 Nxc3 6. Nxd8 Nxd1 = 5. Nxe4 Nxe5 6. d4 +/= 5. Qh5 Nxe5?? 6. Qxe5+ Qe7 7. Qxe7+ +- 5. Qh5 g6? 6. Nxc6! gxh5 7. Nxd8 Nxc3 8. Nxf7 Kxf7 9. dxc3 +- 5. Qh5 Nd6 6. Nd5 +/-