The Danish player Martin S. From of From's Gambit fame (1.f4 e5) played the gambit in the Paris 1867 tournament and is usually given credit for the opening, but there were predecessors. The gambit was popular with attacking players like Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne and Mieses, but as defensive lines were discovered and improved, it lost favor.
Today in top level play you're unlikely to find a Danish gambit although Garry Kasparov and Alexander Morozevich have played it on occasion. And, as GM Nigel Davies has pointed out, in recent years with the help of engines improvements have changed the evaluation of many of the "refutations" of the past. The latest theory shows that white can get a very strong attack against many of black's defenses. Try analyzing the gambit with an engine and you will see what Davies means!
The Swedish-American player Hans Lindehn (February 23, 1826, died July 10, 1884, 58 years old) used it regularly from about 1857 onward. Lindehn was born in Knisslinge, Sweden, but he moved to the US in 1876 and died in Philadelphia. He defeated future World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz in London, 1864.
In the fall of 1913 Frank J. Marshall took on Oldrich Duras of Prague, who was visiting the US, in a 5-game match held at the Manhattan Chess Club. Marshall assured himself of victory by winning the first three games, nevertheless the last two games were played as scheduled. Duras returned to form and drew the fourth and won the fifth.
In game 3 Marshall ventured the Danish Gambit with Duras accepting both offered pawns. The game remained extremely sharp despite an early exchange of Queens.
Marshall regained one of his sacrificed Ps and established a dangerous passed P on g7.The position after Marshall's 15.Nxf6 could have lead to unfathomable complications had Duras played 15...Rxe2. By capturing Marshall's N and allowing the g-Pawn to queen he could have mounted an attack on Marshall's K which, despite the meager forces available, offered good drawing chances.
Instead Duras used several moves to capture the Pawn on g7 which gave Marshall time to advance on the K-side and attack black's K using his R. At his 28th move Duras blundered in time pressure and resigned shortly thereafter.
Frank J. Marshall - Oldrich Duras
Result: 1-0
Site: Match, New York
Date: 1913
C21: Danish Gambit
[...] 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3
3...d5 is the only good way to decline the gambit. However, there seems to be surprisingly little analysis on its declination. 4.e5 dxc3 5.♘xc3 d4 6.♗b5+ ♘c6 Here white should play 7.Nce2 because after 7.♗xc6+ bxc6 8.♘ce2 d3 9.♘c3 ♗c5 Black has the upper hand.
4.♗c4 The is the manly way to play the Danish. 4. Nxc3 is for wimps. 4...cxb2 5.♗xb2 ♘f6 A safe alternative is 5...d6 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.♕xd8+ ♔xd8 In spite of the trade of Qs so early the complications soon grow to gargantuan proportions. 9.fxg7 ♗b4+ 10.♘c3
10.♗c3 is slightly inferior. 10...♗xc3+ 11.♘xc3 ♖g8 12.O-O-O+ Black could have secured a small advantage with 12...Bd7. Instead he played the N to d7 and the game was equal. Golenev,R (2085)-Buruchaga,G (2291)/ Perm 2009
10...♖e8+ As it turns out, black would have been better off going for the g-Pawb straightway with 10...Rg8 11.♘ge2 ♗f5 A slight inaccuracy.
11...♗e6 was more accurate. 12.O-O-O+ ♘d7 13.♖he1 c6 followed by ...Kc 7 getting his K to relative safety and his R into play. Black, by keeping his K in the center, eventually lands in difficulty.
12.O-O-O+ ♘d7 13.♘d5 ♗d6 14.♗f6+ ♘xf6 15.♘xf6 ♔e7 This is safe. The speculative 15...Rxe2 leads to amazing complications!
15...♖xe2 This has been suggested as after the logical 16.g8=♕+ ♔e7 17.♘d5+ (17.♕xa8 ♗a3#) 17...♔e6 White still faces the threat of . ..Ba3 mate 18.♘xc7+ ♗xc7 19.♕xa8 ♖c2+ 20.♔b1 ♖xf2+ 21.♔c1 (21.♔a1 ♗e5+ mates next move) 21...♖c2+ 22.♔b1 ♖xg2+ 23.♖d3 (23.♔c1 ♖c2+ 24.♔b1 ♖xh2+ 25.♔c1 ♗f4+ 26.♖d2 ♖xh1+ wins.) 23...♗xd3+ 24.♔c1 ♗f4+ 25.♔d1 ♖d2+ 26.♔e1 ♖xa2 with an unclear position. Engines evaluate this position as 0.00, but a Shootout using Stockfish result in white scoring +0 -4 =1, so it safe to conclude that, in fact, black is winning! 27.♕xb7 ♗d6 28.♕c6 ♔e5 29.♕e8+ ♔d4 30.♕d8 ♔e3 31.♕g5+ ♔e4 32.♕h4+ ♔d5 33.♕d8 c3 34.♕d7 ♔c5 35.♕xf7 ♗c4 36.♕xh7 ♔b4 37.♕b7+ ♗b5 38.♕e4+ ♔a5 39.♔d1 ♖d2+ 40.♔c1 ♗a3+ 41.♔b1 ♗d3+ 42.♕xd3 ♖xd3
15...♖xe2 I let Stockfish 13 run for 30 minutes and here is its best line: 16.♖d2 ♔e7 17.g8=♘+ ♔f8 18.♖xe2 c3 19.♘e4 ♗f4+ 20.♔c2 ♔xg8 21.g4 ♗e6 22.♘xc3 ♔g7 23.h3 h5 24.♖e4 ♗d6 25.♖b1 hxg4 26.hxg4 b6 In Shootouts White scored +1 -0 =4 from this position.
16.♘xe8 ♖xe8 17.♖d4 ♔f6 18.♘g3 ♗a3+ This move merited a ? in the auto-annotation and the evaluation changed from nearly equal to being in white's favor. Why? The reason is that by forcing the K to d1 it covers e2 and so black can no longer place his R aggressively with . ..Re2
18...♗d3 19.♖g4 ♗g6 20.♘h5+ ♔f5 21.h3 ♖g8 22.♖xc4 ♗xh5 23.g4+ ♔e5 24.gxh5 ♖xg7 and black is still in the game.
19.♔d1 ♗g6
19...♗e6 is met by 20.♘h5+ ♔g6 21.♘f4+ ♔xg7 22.♘xe6+ ♖xe6 23.♖xc4 ♗d6 Shootouts favored white by a score of +2 -0 =3.
20.f4
20.♖xc4 Taking the P allows black to equalize after 20...♖d8+ 21.♔e1 c5 22.g8=♕ ♖xg8
20...♗d3 Instead of simply defending Duras should have availed himself of the opportunity to take the a-Pawn. (20...♗b1 21.♖xc4 ♔xg7 22.♖xc7 ♗xa2 23.♖xb7 a5 24.♖b5 a4) 21.♘h5+ ♔g6 22.♖e1 ♖g8 23.♖d5 h6 24.♖e3 ♗b2 25.g4 ♗xg7
25...♗b1 It's too late too go after the a-Pawn because white has made too much progress on the K-side. 26.♖e7 ♗xa2 27.f5+ ♔g5 28.♔c2 ♗a1 29.f6+ ♔g6 30.♖xc7 ♗b3+ 31.♔b1 ♗c3 32.♘f4+ ♔h7 33.♖xf7 with a decisive attack.
26.f5+ ♔h7 27.♖e7 ♖f8 28.♖xc7 ♗c3 In time pressure Duras makes a tactical mistake that costs him the game.
28...♗e4 Black is lost, but at least he can fight on for a while. 29.♖d2 ♗f3+ 30.♔c1 c3 31.♖d3 ♗e4 (31...♗xg4 32.♘xg7 ♔xg7 33.♖g3 leaves black lost.)
29.♖xd3 Winning a piece. 29...♗e5 30.♖xc4 Duras resigned. Powered by Aquarium
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