Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nf6/3. Nxe5/3...Nxe4/4. Qe2/4...Qe7

Kholmov gambit Damiano variation C42 4...Qe7 · Kholmov gambit Black allow White to take their knight but prepares to pin White's knight. White will be ahead a pawn if he simply accepts the knight, so 5. Qxe4 is almost universally played. This pins White's knight to their queen, so Black can recover the piece for the cost of the d-pawn. 5...d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 Nc6+ and Black has partial compensation. White then usually gives back the pawn: if they cling onto it they can find themselves trapped. History The gambit is named for Russian grandmaster Ratmir Kholmov (1925―2006), though he is not known to have played it as Black. The misunderstanding may come from a misattribution of the game Kholmov v Belousov, 1974.Kholmov v Belousov, 1974 - Chessgames.comRatmir Kholmov https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=15362 2023-07-04 Chessgames.com Theory table all 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 Nc6 8. Nc3 Qxe5 9. Qxe5+ Nxe5 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Bg3 h5 + Kholmov gambit References See also