Wing Gambit

In chess, Wing Gambit is a generic name given to 2 In other openings

openings in which White plays an early b4, deflecting an
enemy pawn or bishop from c5 so as to regain control of There is one Wing Gambit in the French Defence; 1.e4 e6
d4, an important central square. (Or in which Black plays 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4, although this is quite rare. A re-
...b5, but Wing Gambits offered by Black are very rare.) lated idea is found in the Caro-Kann Defence after 1.e4
The most common Wing Gambit is in the Sicilian De- c6 2.Ne2 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4, however Black can immedi-
fence (1.e4 c5 2.b4). The most important Wing Gambit ately achieve an advantage by playing 4...d4! (this move is
is the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4), also strong in the second French line given above). Even
treated separately. rarer is the Wing Gambit in the Bishop’s Opening, 1.e4
e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4, which has some resemblance to the
Evans Gambit.
There are several other “Wing Gambits” in various open-
ings, but they are very rare, and not as notable as the open-
ings mentioned above:

• In the English Opening: 1.c4 c5 2.b4, or 1.c4 b5

1 In the Sicilian Defence
The Wing Gambit in the Sicilian Defence runs 1.e4 c5
2.b4 (see diagram). After Black takes with 2...cxb4,
the usual continuation is 3.a3 bxa3 (3...d5! is more
recently considered superior, when White must avoid
4.exd5 Qxd5 5.axb4?? Qe5+ winning the rook, a blun-
der actually seen in tournament play in Shirazi–Peters,
Berkeley 1984; instead 5.Nf3 is better) and now the main
line is 4.Nxa3, though 4.Bxa3 and 4.d4 are also seen. It
is also possible to decline (or at least delay acceptance of)
the gambit with 2...d5.
For his pawn, White gets quicker development and a cen-
tral advantage, but it is not generally considered one of
White’s better choices against the Sicilian and it is virtu-
ally never seen at the professional level. Amongst ama-
teurs it is more common, though still not so popular as
other systems.
After Black’s 2...cxb4, another popular third move
alternative for White is 3.d4. GMs George Koltanowski,
David Bronstein and World Champion Alexander
Alekhine have played this line.
White can postpone the gambit one move by playing the
Wing Gambit Deferred, playing 2.Nf3 followed by 3.b4.
The deferred Wing Gambit is considered to be best when
black responds 2...e6.[1] The Portsmouth Gambit runs
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4, where Black is disinclined to refuse the
gambit due to the positional threat 3.b5, displacing the
knight and disrupting Black’s smooth development.
It is also possible to prepare the gambit by playing 2.a3!?
followed by 3.b4.
• In the Marshall Gambit of the Scandinavian De-
fence: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 g6 4.c4 b5
• In the Ware Opening: 1.a4 b5 2.axb5 Bb7
3 Illustrative Games
Lutz vs. De Firmian, Biel 1993: 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3
d5! 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.Na3
Nf6 9.Nb5 Qd8 10.Nxe5 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Qf3 Bd7
13.Nd4 0-0 14.Ba6 Qc7 15.h3 c5 16.Nf5 Qe5 17.Ne3
Bd6 18.Be2 Bc7 19.Nc4 Qe6 20.Qe3 Ne4 21.0-0 Rfe8
22.Bd3 f5 23.Re1 Qd5 24.Qf3 Bb5 25.Nb2 c4 26.Bf1
Bb6 27.Nd1 f4 28.Qxf4 Nxf2 29.Ne3 Nd3 30.Bxd3
Qxd3 31.Kh1 Re4 32.Qg5 Bc6 33.Bb2 Qxd2 34.Rad1
Rxe3 25.Rxd2 Rxh3# 0-1 [2]
4 References
[1] Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Joe Gallagher, 1994, ISBN
9780805035759
[2] Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Joe Gallagher, 1994, ISBN
9780805035759
5 External links
• Opening Report: 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.d4 d5 (328
games)

1
2 5 EXTERNAL LINKS

• The Portsmouth Gambit

• A little known retreat in the Wing Gambit

 3

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text
• Wing Gambit Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Gambit?oldid=721078783 Contributors: Camembert, Sonjaaa, Rich Farm-
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