Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. e4

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (BDG)
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. e4

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 2. e4

2. e4

White offers their e4 pawn in exchange for quick development and open lines. At the professional level this move is considered somewhat suspect, but Black must be careful if they choose to take the pawn as there are many traps in this opening. 2 ...dxe4, accepting the pawn, is the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Black has three ways to decline the gambit.

• e6 transposes to the French Defence
• c6 transposes to the Caro-Kann Defence
• Nc6 transposes to the Nimzowitsch Defence
• c5 is a largely unexplored countergambit.

Theory table

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

1. d4 d5 2. e4

	2	3
	... dxe4	Nc3 e5	=
French Defence (by transposition)	... e6	=
Caro-Kann Defence (by transposition)	... c6	=
Nimzowitsch Defence (by transposition)	... Nc6	=
	... c5	=

References

• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
• Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.