Should you decline the Vienna Gambit with Nc6?
#ViennaGame #ViennaGambit
The standard (Falkbeer) Vienna Gambit becomes available after e4 e5 Nc3 Nf6, with pawn to f4 on move 3. This is my favourite opening in chess for white. And, according the the Lichess database when restricted to beginner community games of blitz and rapid only, white wins 58% of the time from this position! This is amazing given that as with most gambits, black is actually slightly better objectively according to computer analysis.
For black to maintain the advantage, they must respond to the Vienna Gambit with d5, which enters the Vienna Game Main Line. At the beginner-intermediate level, both players seem to have very balanced chances of winning from then on. However, d5 is only the fourth most common move and occurred only in 1 in 10 games from this position, out of around 170,000 games. Most commonly, the opponent accepts the gambit (exf4) occurring in 44% of games, second most common is d6 (21%), and third most common is Nc6 (15%), which the move of interest in this video and article.
It is common for people moving past the beginner level to understand the heuristic that it might be dangerous to randomly accept an offered and unfamiliar gambit in the opening. But how does one decline the gambit? Nc6 is a very natural looking response as it seems to meet basic opening principles. Firstly, it develops a minor piece to its natural square. Secondly, it defends the pawn on e5 which is under attack.
However, as we see in the video, it is practically a trap with the evaluation immediately going to +2. What happens is that even with ideal play, white basically gains control of the centre due to geometrically where the black knights can go and the white’s advantage of simply having made the first move. Not uncommonly, the player with the black pieces will try some counterplay with aggressive counterattacks. Though this can definitely be effective, with careful play, this risky strategy often results in material loss for the player with the black pieces which then cements the major advantage for white into the middle game. Winning then is a matter of just playing some solid chess, insofar as not blundering back!
So, the answer to the title: NO, you should not decline the Vienna Gambit with Nc6. This completely reasonable looking move is bad with white winning almost 60% of the time.
Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/48035942459
