From's Gambit is the critical answer to Bird's Opening: after 1.f4 e5 Black gives up a pawn straight away to open lines and punish White for weakening the e1-h4 diagonal. The opening is famous for a short trap: the natural developing move 4.Nc3 loses to mate on move six. With the accurate 4.Nf3 White has a normal game, so the whole gambit hinges on a single move - and both sides need to know it.
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 thin arrow on the board shows the next move.
You can also play the move on the board: pick the piece up and put it on the square.
The starting position. Play the opening out move by move - at a branching point several continuations are available.
The move 1.f4 solves one problem - control of e5 - but creates another: the e1-h4 diagonal is left without pawn cover and the knight has not yet occupied g1. From's Gambit strikes at exactly that.
After 1...e5 2.fxe5 d6 Black does not sacrifice a second pawn but wins the material back with tempo: 3.exd6 Bxd6 - and the bishop already eyes h2, the f-file is open, and White has to solve the problem of the check on h4 right now.
The compensation here is not abstract. Black has a lead in development and concrete threats, while White has an extra pawn and the need to play accurately from move four.
There is one move to remember: 4.Nf3. The knight closes the e1-h4 diagonal, removes the entire point of the gambit and develops a piece into the bargain. After that White calmly builds the centre with d4 and keeps the extra pawn.
The plan from there is simple: d2-d4, develop the bishops, castle short. If Black launches an attack with 4...g5, White answers 5.d4 and trades off the active pieces - in the endgame the extra pawn will tell.
The main thing not to do: develop the knight to c3, the bishop to c4, or play 4.d4 before Nf3. Any move that leaves h4 unwatched loses by force.
Black's plan is an attack on the king before White has castled. The main continuation 4...g5 looks wild but is logical: the pawn chases the f3 knight, opens the g-file and prepares ...g4.
The second route is the quiet 4...Nf6 with castling and pressure down the f-file. A pawn down, but the position is healthy and White has no clear way to improve.
Do not rely on the trap alone. An opponent who knows 4.Nf3 will leave you a pawn down, so Black needs a plan for a normal game too, not just a prepared mate.
Objectively White keeps a small edge with precise play, but in practice the gambit pays off: many people meet 1.f4 with general principles, and here general principles lose.
It is a good weapon for blitz and rapid, where one inaccurate opening move costs the most. In classical chess it is worth keeping as a surprise.
If you play 1.f4 as White, you have to learn From's Gambit - it is the first thing you will meet.
The typical set-ups this opening leads to - learn them, and the plan follows by itself.
White is a pawn up, but the e1-h4 diagonal is open and the d6 bishop already eyes h2. White to move - and there is only one move.
The end of the main trap: Black has given up the queen, and the bishop on g3 mates - the king on e1 has not a single square.
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.
The only move that stops the ...Qh4+ threat. Then d4 and castling, with White a pawn up.
Black declines the immediate attack, castles and presses down the f-file. The position is healthy, but the pawn is gone.
What to avoid, and what catches an unprepared opponent.
The opening's main trap. Black sacrifices the queen and the bishop mates from g3. This is exactly why 4.Nf3 is obligatory.
What loses is not the knight move to c3 as such, but the fact that h4 has been left uncovered. Nf3 first, everything else later.
Traps in other openings - the 12 most common opening traps.
Black's answer to Bird's Opening: 1.f4 e5 - Black sacrifices a pawn to open lines and attack the e1-h4 diagonal that f4 has weakened. After 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 the material is almost restored and Black leads in development.
With 4.Nf3 - it closes the e1-h4 diagonal and stops the ...Qh4+ threat. Then d2-d4, development and castling. Any other fourth move can lose by force.
Yes: 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nc3?? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 6.hxg3 Bxg3#. Black gives up the queen and the bishop mates. The trap only works against 4.Nc3 and other moves that fail to close the diagonal.
With precise play from White - 4.Nf3 and d4 - he keeps the extra pawn and a small edge. But the gambit's practical value is high: against 1.f4 opponents often play on general principles, and here general principles lose.
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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