The Rousseau Gambit (or Ponziani Countergambit after

Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani (9 November 1719 – 15 July 1796) was an Italian law professor, priest, chess player, composer and theoretician. He is best known today for his chess writing. Life Ponziani was born in Modena in 1719. In 1742 he gra ...

) is a

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defens ...

that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 f5 The gambit is named after French chess master Eugène Rousseau. White can decline the gambit by supporting the e-pawn with 4. d3. The resulting position is similar to a

King's Gambit Declined The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit p ...

with colours reversed, and White's aiming at Black's weakened . Black will have trouble

castling Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved ...

kingside, and Ng5 is a likely threat. White's position is better, but still requires careful play. Key themes for White are to attack Black's kingside and to avoid attempts by Black to the position. Exchanges involving White's are particularly suspect.

White responses

Gambit Declined: 4.d3

White can decline the gambit and wait to capture the f-pawn. 4...Bc5 transposes to the Lucchini Gambit.

Gambit Accepted: 4.exf5

White still has a good game after the inferior 4.exf5, but the position is less clear. Black usually plays 4...e4, which White may meet by 5.Nd4 Nf6 (5...Nxd4 leads to trouble after 6.Qh5+) 6.Nxc6.

4.d4!

White gets a clear advantage with 4.d4!: * 4...fxe4 5.Nxe5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne7 7.0-0 a6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 (8...Nxc6? 9.Qh5+) 9.f3 Bf5 10.Nc3 +/− (Bilguer '' Handbuch''). * 4...d6 and now: ** 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.d5 Nb8 (6...Ne7 7.Nc3 f4 8.g3 Ng6 9.Bb5+ +/−; Maróczy) 7.Nc3 f4 8.h4 Bg4 9.f3 Bd7 10.g3 fxg3 11.f4 +/− ( Sozin). ** 5.dxe5 and now: *** 5...fxe4 6.Qd5 Qe7 7.Bg5 Be6 8.Qxe4 +/− de Rivière–

Anderssen Anderssen is a surname, and may refer to: *Adolf Anderssen (1818–79), German chess grandmaster, unofficial first world champion from 1851–58, 1860-1865 and 1867–68 **Anderssen's Opening, chess opening named after Adolf Anderssen * Justus Ande ...

, London 1862. *** 5...dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 (6...Kxd8 7.Bg5+ Nf6 8.Nc3 +/− Morphy–Worrall, London 1859) 7.Nxe5 fxe4 8.Bd2 Bd6 9.Bc3 +/−

Löwenthal Löwenthal is a surname of Germanic language origin. Notable people with this name include: * Gerhard Löwenthal (1922–2002), a German journalist * Johann Löwenthal (1810–1876), a Hungarian Jewish chess player * Leo Löwenthal (1900–1993), ...

& Medley vs. Morphy & Mongredien, London 1857. * 4...Nf6 5.dxe5 Nxe4 6.0-0 Bc5 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 h6 9.Nd4 g6 10.Nb3 +/− (Bilguer).

References

External links

* * *{{cite web , url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/mcgrew13.pdf , title=Gambits In Many Dimensions , author=Tim McGrew , date=2003-09-22 , publisher=

Chesscafe.com ChessCafe.com is a website that publishes endgame studies, book reviews and other articles related to chess on a weekly basis. It was founded in 1996 by Hanon Russell, and is well known as a repository of articles about chess and its history. It ...