ChessScreenshot

Albin Counter-Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 · D08–D09

Starting positionWhite to move

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The pawn on d4 blocks White's own pieces

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The idea

Black throws the e-pawn forward and then pushes the d-pawn to d4, planting a wedge in White's position that is difficult to remove.

Main line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Qd7 7.b4 O-O-O

What White wants

  • Contain the d4 pawn and develop around it
  • Trade on d4 at the right moment with pieces, not pawns
  • Use the extra pawn in the endgame

What Black wants

  • Keep the d4 pawn as long as it causes problems
  • Develop with ...Nc6, ...Bg4 and ...O-O-O and attack the white king
  • Trade the pawn for development if White ever over-defends it

Key idea

Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.

The pawn on d4 blocks White's own pieces

A black pawn on d4 cramps White's centre and takes the c3 square away from the knight. It may fall eventually, but while it lives every white piece is on a worse square than it wants to be.

Common mistake

Recovering the bishop with Bxb4 before resolving the threat to f2. After ...dxe3, the pawn on e3 can advance with ...exf2+ and force the king to move. White must calculate that intermediate check rather than automatically recapture the bishop.

Mistake example: exf2+.

Representative position

The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.

2kr1bnr/pppq1ppp/2n5/4P3/1PPp2b1/P4N2/3NPPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQ - 1 8

Analyze this position

Traps in this opening

Moves in this opening that look natural and lose.

Albin Counter-Gambit: Lasker TrapTaking the bishop wins a piece and appears to end the check. White expects to recover the e3 pawn afterward.
All opening traps

Related openings

Chigorin Defense1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.cxd5 Bxf3 · D07Black develops ...Nc6 against the Queen's Gambit, accepting restricted c-pawn mobility for active piece play. In this line, ...Bxf3 damages White's pawns while conceding the bishop pair.Blackmar-Diemer Gambit1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 · D00White offers the e-pawn, then plays f3 to open the f-file after ...exf3 and Nxf3. The gambit exchanges material for rapid development and attacking chances against Black's king.Queen's Gambit1.d4 d5 2.c4 · D06–D69White offers the c-pawn to deflect Black's d5 pawn, aiming to own the centre — not a real gambit, because the pawn is almost always recovered.Queen's Pawn Opening1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 · D00–D69White stakes a claim in the centre with the queen's pawn and immediately challenges Black's d5 — the solid, positional counterpart to 1.e4.