Chess Grandmaster's Favourite Gambit vs. 1.e4!
Dear chess friends,
Would you like to know my favourite gambit vs. 1.e4?
It may not be what you expect...
Other Gambits vs. 1.e4
I can tell you that it is not:
- The Stafford Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6);
- The Elephant Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5);
- The Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5);
...as these are too unsound and too easy for advanced players to refute.
It's also not the Marshall Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5). Even though it has a very good theoretical reputation, there are two problems with this gambit:
1. It's fully worked out, meaning White can make a draw just by remembering a lot of theory;
2. You won't get it on the board much, as White has so many ways to avoid it (from the move 8 Anti-Marshalls like 8.h3/8.a4/8.d3/8.d4, to the Italian/Scotch/4 Knights, among others).
My Three Main Criteria For A Gambit's Effectiveness
For me, there are three main criteria when determining the effectiveness of a gambit:
1. How well it scores in practice;
2. How likely we are to get it on the board;
3. How objectively sound the gambit is.
Looking at some of the earlier options, the Stafford Gambit, Elephant Gambit and Latvian Gambit are all quite easy to get on the board (as they occur in the first 3 moves), and they even score reasonably below 1400 to 1600. But they are completely unsound, and the refutations are also quite easy for White to remember and apply, with White just playing natural moves.
My Favourite Gambit vs. 1.e4, Revealed
Let's see my favourite gambit vs. 1.e4, the Portuguese Scandinavian:
Now let's run it against my three criteria:
1. In my database of just over 6.2 billion games, Black already has a plus score of 51% after 2...Nf6. This surges to 55% for Black after 3.d4 Bg4 (52% win rate). That's already a good percentage score for a White opening, but for a Black opening, it's incredible and speaks to the strength of the Portuguese Scandinavian as a practical weapon.
2. We play it on move 3, with 1.e4, 2.exd5 and 3.d4 all being the most common moves by White. So we are very likely to get it on the board. Technically, our gambit even begins with 2...Nf6, as White could technically hang on to the pawn with 3.c4.
3. Unfortunately, the Portuguese Scandinavian is not 100% sound, with Stockfish 17 giving a +0.58 advantage to White at depth 63. However, that's still a lot better than other gambits vs. 1.e4 (with the exception of the Marshall), and +0.58 is only a slight advantage for White, making the Portuguese Scandinavian just as playable as Black's other approaches in the Scandinavian.
I talk a lot about the Portuguese Scandinavian in my latest video, sharing my passion for this gambit and why I believe it can be a super effective weapon against your usual opponents:
How I Got Into With The Portuguese Scandinavian
My inspiration to start playing the Portuguese Scandinavian came from one of its early experts, GM David Smerdon, whose book 'Smerdon's Scandinavian' for Everyman Chess in 2015 inspired me to master this opening and play this repertoire in hundreds of Chess.com games (277 with 2...Nf6 and 32 with 3...Bg4 at the time of writing).
However, in this free training and post, I will share with you my inspiration from the original Portuguese Scandinavian expert - IM Rui Damaso - a six-time Portuguese Chess Champion, whom the opening is named after.
And because you're reading this post on Chess.com, I'll share a special bonus that others don't get - the PGN files of the 5 games I analyze in the training video.
Introduction - White's Common But Weaker Options
But first, here's an Introduction, overviewing some of the more common options (especially at lower levels):
I explain all these moves in the training video (same story with the annotated games).
A few patterns we can note:
- We are very happy to see White's alternatives to 2.exd5, which give us an improved version of different Caro-Kann Variations;
- White can try to hang on to the pawn with moves like 3.Bb5 or 3.c4, though these are less effective than the main lines.
- If White plays 3.Nc3 and then exchanges on d5, we get a much improved 2...Qxd5 Scandinavian, where we don't lose time moving our queen around.
- Against quieter moves like 4.Nf3, a Grunfeld approach works quite well.
If you enjoy this style of teaching, check out my full 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025' course at: https://max-illingworth.mykajabi.com/offers/ZBLeXXoa
Game 1 - Crushing An IM In 21 Moves With The Icelandic Gambit
Our game, Kuijf-Hodgson, Wijk aan Zee 1989, sees the creative English GM Julian Hodgson crush his opponent with the Icelandic Gambit (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6). Although this gambit doesn't have the same reliable reputation of 3...c6 (my main recommendation in 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025'), it does lead to quite interesting positions with active piece play for Black. Furthermore, there are many fresh ideas with modern engines that have revitalized this system as a legitimate weapon for Black.
And that's one of the things I love about the Scandinavian - there are many fine ways to play it, meaning even the pickiest player can find something that suits them.
Before I share the full game, here's a puzzle from the game, which is indicative of my teaching style in both the video and my course. Can you improve on Hodgson's play and get a winning position faster than he did?
Here's the Kuijf-Hodgson game, with a mix of my notes from the video and ChessBase's original notes:
Key Takeaways From This Game:
- In the Icelandic Gambit, our queen often goes to e7 at some point, both to threaten ...Bxc4 and to clear the way for ...Nc6/...0-0-0 for fast queenside development and pressure on d4;
- We want to keep the opponent's king in the centre, but if they do castle queenside, we can still use their overextended c4-pawn as a target;
- When we are already down material, we don't mind sacrificing more material - throwing more wood on the fire - if it means strengthening our initiative and preventing our opponent from ever consolidating.
Game 2 - My Favourite Attacking Setup vs. The d4-Pawn
Our next game, Mortensen-Damaso, is our first game featuring the original expert of the Portuguese Scandinavian, and demonstrates how Black gets very comfortable play against natural moves by White.
Take for instance this position from the game, which makes a great puzzle (Black to move):
The way that Black was able to get such a great attacking position (and fun tactical tricks) to begin with was by playing the ...Qxd5/...Nc6/...0-0-0/....e5 setup, where Black focuses fire on the d4-pawn and obtains a strong initiative right out of the opening.
I remember seeing a few Australian masters playing this setup vs. 1.e4 as their weapon vs. sub-2000 rated players (or against sub-2400s in blitz/rapid), and every time, they'd get great positions out of the opening, as their opponents really struggled to defend against such an early attack. And that's still true in 2025, where I've been using this setup in different versions in Chess.com games to get very strong positions right out of the opening. (I share the different ways to play this setup in 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025').
Here is the full game with my annotations:
I'll let you come up with your own key takeaways from this game, as I already shared my personal experience with this setup. And you will retain the lessons more powerfully if you sometimes put it into your own words 
Game 3 - Hacking The Common 4.Be2
Many players who are surprised by the Portuguese Scandinavian will look for ways to either transpose to something more familiar (like Mortensen did last game with 4.Nf3), or simplify the position and avoid complications with 4.Be2. However, when our opponents turn down the fight, Black simply gets active piece play and an improved version of the normal Scandinavian lines, as White's space advantage becomes progressively less important as more minor pieces get traded.
Now for this typical middlegame position for the Portuguese Scandinavian, with opposite-side castling. What would be your plan as Black, to move?
If you got this right, congratulations - you improved on IM Damaso's play in the game!
Speaking of which, here is the full game with my notes, where Chinese GM Ye Jiangchuan (China's second ever GM, after GM Ye Rongguang - a correction from my initial video) was checkmated in just 29 moves:
Key Takeaways From This Game:
- 4.Be2 is relatively harmless, and can be met with either the safe approach of short castling, or the more dynamic long castling, depending also on White's follow-up.
- We don't need to sacrifice a pawn with ...g5 - we can prepare it first, as the h3-hook will ensure that lines get opened with a later ...g4.
- In an attacking race, we need to attack as quickly as possible - and should look for forcing moves (checks, captures, threats) to make that happen.
If you thought that game was inspiring, the next one is on a whole other level.
Game 4 - GM Checkmated With White In 13 Moves!
This game was the first Damaso game I saw with the Portuguese, and it greatly inspired me to start playing this opening with Black!
Before I show you the full game, here's a common trap in the Portuguese, which has caught out many players over the years:
I actually cover this trap in 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025' in more detail, using the model game Vaibhav-Carlsen, where Carlsen crushed a 2546 FIDE-rated Indian GM in just 25 moves in the 2018 Chess.com PRO Chess League rapid.
Now for how GM Wang Zili of China was checkmated in just 13 moves, after playing too ambitiously in the opening and falling for a beautiful combination. Can you find the combination, with Black to play, in the puzzle below?
And here is the full game with my annotations:
I'll skip the 'Key Takeaways' part here, as the two main lessons from the game were already covered in the earlier puzzles. As you get stronger at chess, the lessons you take away from each game become more and more concrete (and less general) in nature.
Game 5 - The Anti-Anti-Portuguese In Action!
For those wondering, the Anti-Portuguese is 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5 - where White hopes to avoid the Portuguese with 3...Bd7 4.Be2 Nxd5 5.d4, reaching a normal position after Nf3/0-0/c4/Nc3 in some order.
While I touch on this in my course, my main recommendation is the move 3...Nbd7!?, keeping more tension in the position, as was played in our final model game for the video/post, Movsesian-Damaso, where the Portuguese IM outplays a 2630 FIDE GM (who went on to break 2700 FIDE at his peak) in just 26 moves!
Here's one moment from the game which I really like as a puzzle for Black (even though there's technically two solutions):
And here is the full game, with my annotations from the video mixed in with GM Finkel's original annotations for ChessBase:
Of course, it is very rare to beat a 2600+ GM with Black in only 26 moves, but when you play such 'Romantic' chess (in the spirit of Greco, Morphy, Anderssen, Alekhine, Tal and other attacking greats), with a lot of pressure on the opponent from the very first moves, it becomes possible.
Key Takeaways From This Game:
- The ...b5 break against the c4/Ba4 setup is a great way to weaken White's structure and open the position for our better developed pieces, opening Benko-style compensation in the middlegame;
- The Shankland Principle - playing an intermediate move before going to our target square, to provoke a weakening pawn move (f2-f3 in the case of the game);
- The value of targeting weaknesses - the ...Nd7/...Qh4/...Ne5 manoeuvre allowed Black to attack White's king, light squares and the c4-pawn. White could avoid this only at the price of letting Black's bishop pair rake the board.
Comment below: What insight/move did you grab onto from today's post?
Conclusion & Next Steps
This was a long post, and intentionally so - as a Top Blogger on Chess.com, I can only post once every 48 hours at most, and so it's important for me to fit in as much value as I can into one post, knowing that readers will have more time to review it before my next content.
What allows me to keep providing such value to the chess world is the small percentage of readers/viewers who love the value I provide for free, find it helpful, and decide that the right next step to simplify and accelerate their chess improvement is to invest in one (or more) of my chess courses.
Of all the courses I've created, I'm most proud of my course 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025' , and I hope that both my love of the Scandinavian and my mastery of the opening and arising middlegames shined through for you in this post.
I've come a long way since I released this first opening course in 2020, and I'm super excited to share my 2025 updates of the best ways to play the Scandinavian as Black with you. This post was just a teaser - I share a lot more on how to play the Portuguese Scandinavian (along with some other approaches) in the full course.
95+% of the Chess.com messages I receive are spam, so if you have questions about the course or need support, the best way to reach me is illingworthchess@gmail.com.
If you are interested in 'Play The Strongest Scandinavian In 2025', I recommend getting in soon, because the price will go up on March 12, 2025. You can find out the details of what's in the course (and how it will help you improve your chess as well as giving you a lifetime weapon vs. 1.e4 you're confident in) here.
