The Budapest is a rare chance for Black to get fast piece play against 1.d4 without learning the Indian defences. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 the pawn is given up for a couple of moves only, the knight jumps to g4 and the whole opening revolves around the e5 square. This is also the home of the Kieninger Trap: mate by a knight on d3 in eight moves.
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The starting position. Choose your moves - at a branching point several continuations are available.
The dimmed moves are the rest of the main line, and the dots mark branching points. Click any move to jump to that position.
The Budapest Gambit runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5. Black gives up a central pawn, but not for long: after 3.dxe5 Ng4 the knight attacks it immediately and White has to spend moves defending. The pawn usually comes back within three or four moves, by which time Black's pieces are already active.
The point of the gambit is tempo, not material. Against most answers to 1.d4 Black has to equalise slowly and carefully; here the fight starts at once, and White has to know exactly how to hold e5 or the edge disappears.
The opening is named after the 1918 Budapest tournament, where Hungarian players used it. It has come in and out of fashion ever since, and it thrives in rapid and blitz, where an unprepared opponent burns time as early as move four.
4.Bf4 is the critical one. White defends the pawn with the bishop and tries to keep it as long as possible. This is also where the Kieninger Trap lives.
4.Nf3 is quiet development. White does not cling to the pawn, hands it back and plays for a small positional plus: a little more space, the bishop pair, a clear structure.
3.d5 declines the gambit altogether. White locks the centre and the game resembles a King's Indian, except that Black has sacrificed nothing. It is not a refutation, and there is not much of an edge in it either.
The best-known trap of the opening: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.a3 Ngxe5 8.axb4?? Nd3#.
The mechanism is simple but hard to see: the c1 bishop went to f4 and no longer guards d2, the b1 knight sits on d2 and gets in its own way, and the king and queen have not moved. The knight checks from d3 and nothing can block - every square is taken by White's own pieces.
The practical lesson cuts both ways: in the Budapest you cannot grab pieces on autopilot. The correct 8.Nxe5 leads to an equal game, while one greedy move ends it on move eight.
These are the main named variations. Click any one of them and it loads straight onto the board above, where you can play it out move by move. The trainer itself holds more lines than this: it also covers main-line continuations and transpositions that have no name of their own.
What to avoid, and what catches an unprepared opponent.
White kicks the bishop and then happily takes it once the pawn has been regained. But the knight on d3 gives mate: the c1 bishop is on f4, the b1 knight is on d2, and there is nothing left to block with. The correct move is 8.Nxe5 with an equal game.
Traps in other openings - the 12 most common opening traps.
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The Budapest Gambit is black throws the e5 pawn forward on move two and gets instant activity; its ECO code is A51. The moves are 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5. Its main branches: Main line 3...Ng4 and Kieninger Trap.
The main line with 3...Ng4 is perfectly playable: Black regains the pawn and gets a normal position. The Fajarowicz (3...Ne4) is objectively weaker, though it scores well at fast time controls.
The simplest way is the quiet 4.Nf3: give the pawn back, finish development and play for space and the bishop pair. Trying to keep the pawn at all costs usually ends in equality or worse.
After the German master Georg Kieninger, in whose games the mate appeared and became known. The idea itself - a knight mate on d3 with White's own pieces in the way - is older and shows up in other openings too.
Yes, as a second option against 1.d4. There is little to memorise, the ideas are visible - attack the pawn, develop with check, press along the e-file - and the trap teaches you not to capture automatically.
Develop calmly: 3...Bc5, then ...d6, ...O-O and play on the dark squares. The structure resembles a King's Indian and Black has taken no material risk at all.
Want the tactics that decide these positions? Start with the 12 most common opening traps and tactics for beginners. If you are just starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set up the board.
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