As White

Danish Gambit

The Danish Gambit is a chess opening for White that starts with 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3.

Two pawns are sacrificed for lightning-fast development and both bishops aiming at the king.

Reviewed on November 6, 2026 · Prepared by Josep Serrano Ballestero

Basic · Elo 400 – 600

Train this level

  1. Deadly mate · 8...Kg8

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qb3+ d5 10.exd6+ Be6 11.Qxe6#

  2. Deadly mate · 7...Bc5

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.O-O Bc5 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qd5 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Nxf2 11.Qxf7#

  3. Opponent's mistake · 6...Bc5

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bc5 7.Bxg7 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 Bc3 9.Bxc3

  4. Opponent's mistake · 6...h6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d6 6.Nf3 h6 7.Ne5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Ba3+ Kxf7 10.Qxd8

  5. Opponent's mistake · 7...d6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Bxc3+ 7.Bxc3 d6 8.Bxg7 Nf6 9.Bxh8

  6. Opponent's mistake · 5...Bc5

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bc5 6.Bxg7 Qh4 7.Qf3

  7. Classical Defense · 8.Qf3+ Nf6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qf3+ Nf6 9.exf6 gxf6 10.Nc3

  8. Copenhagen Defense

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Bxc3+ 7.Bxc3

  9. 5.Bxb2 Nc6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bb4+ 7.Nc3

  10. Classical Defense · 6.e5 Ng8

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Nf3

  11. 4.cxd4 d5

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Nc6 4.cxd4 d5 5.e5 f6 6.Nf3 fxe5 7.Nxe5

  12. 4.cxd4 Nf6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Nc6 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.e5 Ne4 7.Qc2

Intermediate · Elo 800 – 1000

Train this level

  1. Opponent's mistake · 6...h6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d6 6.Nf3 h6 7.Ne5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Ba3+ Kxf7 10.Qxd8

  2. Opponent's mistake · 5...Be7

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nxc3 Be7 6.e5 Ng8 7.Qd5 Nh6 8.Bxh6 O-O 9.Qe4

  3. Opponent's mistake · 5...h6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Ne5+

  4. Copenhagen Defense

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Bxc3+ 7.Bxc3 Nf6 8.e5

  5. Classical Defense

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nf6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Ng8 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Nd5

  6. 5.Bxb2 d6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d6 6.Nf3 Be6 7.Nbd2 Bxc4 8.Nxc4

  7. 5.Nf3 Nf6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O cxb2 7.Bxb2

  8. 5.Nf3 d6

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Bg4 7.Qb3

  9. 5.Nf3 cxb2

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nf3 cxb2 6.Bxb2 Be6 7.Bxe6

  10. 4.cxd4 Bb4+

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Nc6 4.cxd4 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Bd2

  11. 4.cxd4 d5

    1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Nc6 4.cxd4 d5 5.e5 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.Be2

Frequently asked questions

Is the Danish Gambit good for beginners?

Yes. On OpeningCraft you learn it in these levels: Basic (Elo 400 – 600), Intermediate (Elo 800 – 1000). It suits players who like attacks, gambits and open positions.

What traps are there in the Danish Gambit?

OpeningCraft teaches 8 traps and opponent mistakes in this opening, for example: Deadly mate (8...Kg8); Deadly mate (7...Bc5); Opponent's mistake (6...Bc5).

How many lines of the Danish Gambit do you need to learn?

OpeningCraft teaches 22, in blocks of 5. They come from real Lichess games at each rating band, and the traps and opponent mistakes most common at your level come first.

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