Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nf6/3. Nxe5/3...Nc6

Stafford gambit
	a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h
	Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4N3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R
	Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6
	ECO code: C42
	Parent: Russian game

3...Nc6?! · Stafford gambit

Rather than try to recover the pawn (as in 3...d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4), Black invites White to trade knights. Black's plan after 4. Nxc6 is to take back with the d pawn, opening lines for their bishop and queen. They have entered the dubious but dangerous Stafford gambit.

Accepting the gambit

4. Nxc6 should be to White's advantage: being up one pawn in material, trading knights brings them closer to consolidating their lead. The engine doesn't find this gambit sound for Black (it evaluates the game as +2.1 after 4...dxc6), however, the line is so sharp that Black often has practical success, especially in faster time controls. Black plays for an aggressive attack on White's kingside and the f2 square. White must play carefully and solidly and attempt to win the long game.

Declining the gambit

4. Nf3 declines the gambit. White returns the pawn and it leads to an even game (e.g. 4...Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. dxc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 =). This approach gives away White's advantage, but a White player who has been burnt by the Stafford before or is dead-set on playing a Petrov defence position may prefer it as a quieter continuation.

After 4...Nxe4, play resembles a mainline Russian game (cf. 3...d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4). White can chose their preferred Russian game line, including 5. d4, 5. Qe2, or 5. Nc3 for games resembling a Classical, Cozio, or Nimzowitsch variation but where Black has played Nc6 instead of d6.

In Hou v Dubov 2021, White declined with 4. Nf3 and transposed into an Exchange French position down a tempo.^[1]

4. Nc3 is a counter-gambit where White transposes into the Hallowe'en gambit instead.

History

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Black threatens mate in two with Bxf2+ Ke2 Bg4#.

If 7. dxe4 Black wins White's queen (7...Bxf2+ 8. Kxf2 Qxd1).
If 7. Be3 Black is up the exchange (7...Bxe3 8. fxe3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Qxh1).

White resigns.

3...Nc6 was tried by Howard Staunton in a consultation game in 1857.^[2] White accepted the gambit and defended themselves admirably against Staunton's threats with a defence that looks very close to the modern refutation, including d3, Be2, and c3.

There is record of a 1950 correspondence game between Irving Lowens and a "Stafford" where Black played this line. Who Stafford was, however, goes unrecorded.^[3] Lowens resigned after 6 moves, succumbing to Black's pressure on f2 (see diagram).

3...Nc6 remained very rare until it had some revival in the 1990s. In the 2020s it was popularised by online chess streamers, especially International Master Eric Rosen who used it to defeat Grandmaster Sergey Erenburg at the 2024 World Blitz Championship in 14 moves.^[4] Because of this, a lot of the Stafford gambit's surprise value has diminished. While still vanishingly rare in tournament games, 3...Nc6?! is now the most common move for Black in the Lichess player database as of 2025.