8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is the name facetiously given to a dubious chess opening, an offshoot of the Italian Game, that begins (in algebraic notation) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?! (see chess punctuation). It is also sometimes referred to as the Kostic Gambit after the Serbian grandmaster Borislav Kostic, who played it in the early 20th century.

Black's third move is, objectively speaking, a weak, time-wasting move that leaves White with the advantage after simply 4.0-0, 4.Nxd4, or 4.c3. Its only virtue is that it sets a trap that has ensnared many players. After the natural 4.Nxe5!?, Black wins material with 4...Qg5! Now the obvious 5.Nxf7?? loses to 5...Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3# (a smothered mate). This trap is what gives the line its name. The great English master Joseph Henry Blackburne reputedly used it to win shillings from amateurs, although Bill Wall has questioned this, stating that there are no recorded games of Blackburne with the opening. It is not a true gambit, since White cannot take Black's pawn on e5 without losing material or being checkmated.

However, after 4.Nxe5 Qg5 White can maintain a playable game with 5.Bxf7+! Ke7 (5...Kd8? 6.Ng4! d5 7.Ne3 dxe4 8.d3 wins) 6.0-0! Qxe5 7.Bxg8 Rxg8 8.c3 Nc6 (8...Ne6 9.d4! Qxe4? 10.d5 Nf4?? 11.Re1 pinning Black's queen against his king, wins) 9.d4, when White's two pawns, rolling pawn center, and lead in development, combined with Black's awkwardly placed king, give White strong compensation for the sacrificed knight. G. Chandler-NN, Stockbridge 1983, concluded 9...Qa5? (9...Qf6 10. e5 Qf7 may be best) 10.d5 Ne5? 11.Qh5! Nf7? (11...d6 12.Bg5+ Kd7 13.Qxh7 also wins for White) 12.d6+! 1-0 (in light of 13.Qxa5).

Graham Burgess writes that 3...Nd4 is also known as the "Oh my god!" trap, as for full effect Black is supposed to make this exclamation in an attempt to pretend to have accidentally blundered the e-pawn. Burgess condemns this behavior as unethical, and notes that the trap is unsound anyway.

References

• Burgess, Graham (2000). The Mammoth Book of Chess, Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786707259.

External link

• Bill Wall (2005). The Blackburne Shilling Gambit