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Halloween Gambit

White throws a knight away on move four for one pawn and a scary attack. It is spooky, it is fun, and it is unsound.

Viral opening · as White

How it goes

  1. 1.e4 · White starts with the king's pawn.
  2. 1...e5 · Black answers in kind.
  3. 2.Nf3 · The knight comes out and attacks e5.
  4. 2...Nc6 · Black guards the pawn with the knight.
  5. 3.Nc3 · The Four Knights: both sides bring their knights out first. Very calm, so far.
  6. 3...Nf6 · Black completes the set of four knights.
  7. 4.Nxe5?! · Boo! The Halloween Gambit: White gives up a whole knight for one pawn.
  8. 4...Nxe5 · Black takes the knight. Black is now a piece up for a pawn.
  9. 5.d4 · The point: the pawns roll forward and chase the knight away.
  10. 5...Ng6 · The knight steps back to g6, the best square it has.
  11. 6.e5 · Another pawn move with tempo, this time kicking the knight on f6.
  12. 6...Ng8 · The knight has to go all the way home. Black has the extra piece but no development.
  13. 7.Bc4 · White develops fast and aims at f7. It feels scary, but Black's extra knight counts for more.

How to beat it

  1. 7...d5! · Give a pawn back to free your pieces. The d-pawn opens the way for the bishop on c8.
  2. 8.Bxd5 · White takes, and the bishop now sits on a central square.
  3. 8...N8e7 · The knight finally comes out and hits the bishop on d5. Black keeps a piece for two pawns and the better game.

The story

The Four Knights Game is about as calm as chess openings come: both sides bring out their knights, and everyone settles in. The Halloween Gambit wrecks the mood on move four. White simply takes on e5 with the knight, giving a whole piece for one pawn, and then rolls the center pawns forward to chase Black's knights all over the board.

The idea is old. By the 1880s it was already being played in Leipzig under a joke name, Müller and Schulze, the German way of saying "any old Tom, Dick or Harry". The spooky name came much later from Steffen Jakob, who studied the line closely in the late 1990s. He picked it because opponents who expected a sleepy Four Knights got a real fright. It tends to come back around Halloween, as it did in Chess Life in October 2023.

Facing it is less scary than it looks. Take the knight, keep yours on good squares, and give a pawn back with ...d5 at the right moment to free your pieces. White gets a few fun moves, but Black keeps a piece for two pawns and the better game.

Sources: Tim Krabbé: A breeze in the sleepy Four Knights Game · Chess.com: Four Knights Game, Halloween Gambit · Chess Life, October 2023: The Halloween Gambit

Verdict

Unsound · scary, but Black is better

Gambit · Meme

More

Opening names and lines: Lichess chess-openings (CC0) · Not affiliated with Lichess.