Wikibooks

Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...g5

< Chess Opening Theory | 1. d4
Queen's Pawn Opening: Borg Gambit
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black kingh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black pawnh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 white pawne4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 black kinge2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

rnbqkbnr/pppppp1p/8/6p1/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w

Moves: 1. d4 g5

1... g5??: Borg Gambit

edit

First Impressions

edit

1... g5, the Borg Gambit is a rather rare and unsound response to 1. d5. This move is generally considered inferior to 1... d5 or 1... Nf6 by most masters as Black is giving up a pawn, weakening the kingside defense, and promoting White's development of the queen's side bishop in exchange for developing the king's side bishop in a fianchetto.

Ideas/Responses for White

edit

A controlling move that White can do is 2. e4, taking space in the center and opening up the king's bishop and queen, allowing for rather fast development. The question that White poses on Black is if to continue with the hypermodern idea with 2... Bg7 or try to fight back in the center with 2... d5.

Another move White can do is just take the pawn with 2. Bxg5, allowing for development as well as capturing a pawn. Black may play 2. f6? to kick White's bishop away and gain a tempo, but this can be countered with 3. e4!, making the bishop poisoned by a checkmate with 4. Qh5# if Black greedily takes the bishop with 3...fxg5??.

Ideas/Responses for Black

edit

Center Attack

edit

If White takes the g5 pawn, then there are two main ideas for Black to pursue. Black could go take space in the center with 2...f6 trying to gain tempo and eventually break into the center with 3.e4, also actually kicking the bishop out as the Qg5 checkmate isn't instantaneous now. However, this leads to a devastating attack against Black with Qg5 forcing the king into the open, where White can develop and attack the weak king with Nf6, Bc4, and dxe5.

Fianchetto

edit

Another idea is to fianchetto the bishop if White does not take and to play a pseudo-King's Indian Defense with d6, Nf6, and other hypermodern moves.

Theory table

edit

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. d4 g5

2 3 4
Bxg5
f6		 e4
e5		 Qh5+
Ke7		 ±
...
Bg7		 e4[1]

d6

⩲
e4

Bg7

⩲

When contributing to this Wikibook, please follow the Conventions for organization.

References

edit
  1. ↑ "Queen's Pawn Opening: Borg Gambit - Chess Openings". Chess.com. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Chess_Opening_Theory/1._d4/1...g5&oldid=4421320"