The Incredible Damiano Gambit

I was playing around with explorer the other day, and I found an amazing gambit called the Damiano Gambit.

Here it is:

There were only 11 master games on explorer where black had played the Damiano Defense, and 9 times out of those 11, white played the Damiano Gambit.

If you are playing black in this position, DO NOT TAKE THE KNIGHT! According to the master games that were played, the best move is Qe7:

White has to move the knight, and then you can either take the free pawn on e4, or play d5 as some masters did:

Let me show you what happens if black takes the knight:

With Qh5+, black can only play two moves, g6:

Or Ke7:

Neither is preferable for black.

Moral of the story for white is: When your opponent plays f6, take it with the knight! Your opponent will most likely fall for the trap of Qh5+

In all 11 of those master games, white won 82% of the time. Play the Damiano Gambit!