The Albin Counter Gambit

   Want an easy opening to play against the Queen's Gambit?  One in which White feels forced to play the defensive move a3 against you?  Need a new opening against the Queen's Gambit that is tactical and not slow and positional?  Want a companion to the Queen's Gambit Accepted?  I am talking about the Albin Counter Gambit.  In his book COUNTER GAMBITS: Black To Play And Win, Tim Harding suggests, "Black seems to have sufficient compensation for his pawn" and that "when Black seems down and out he manages to generate unexpected chances".  World Champion Emanuel Lasker played the Albin Counter Gambit seven times in his career, and won all seven games.

1.d4  1.d5   2.c4  2.e5   3.d4xe5  3.d5-d4 is usual.  After 3. d5-d4 you play on using your own initiative.  

   There is an Albin Counter Gambit Group here at Chess.com if you are interested in joining.  It is an opening primarily of the past, but Albin Counter Gambit players have scored some nice wins with it.  Loyal players have a lot of faith in it.  If you play the Falkbeer Counter Gambit versus the King's Gambit you will feel right at home playing the Albin. 

I am a lover of the Queen's Gambit, when someone plays the Albin Counter Gambit i feel comfortable just playing e3.  So it would be something like

1.) d4, d5 2.) c4, e5 3.) e3

It kind of turns into the QGA

Glad to see yall continuing the group, much power to you!

dc1985,

If only some some Queen's Gambit avoiders would give us a chance to play this defense.

As I mentioned Lasker played seven games with it and won all seven.  My favorite game is the Two Knights' Defense, so I don't mind playing a pawn down in a game with the tactical chances.  I am playing the Two Knights' in a game right now where I have the attacking chances, and White is on the defensive.

a3 isn't always defensive. In fact it is useful to start a Queenside attack against Black's King e.g. a3 b4 c5 b5 and b6 opening queenside files.

    Sooner or later a3 is a necessary move for White in Albin's Counter Gambit.  It is book.  In a King's Gambit I just finished playing Black lost by playing a6, at move 4, which was a useless move allowing the bishop sacrifice on f7.  Black was later mated for basically throwing away a tempo early in a very sharp line.  This is not the case in the Albin.  The move a3 is played as early as move 5.  However, a3 is hardly a refutation of the gambit.     

e3 is bad because then you could get caught in Lascker's Trap

I wonder why thats called the Spassky variation ?  I dont think he ever played that. He did play  4 e4 once though...... 

I was recently in a themed tourney using the ACG. Needless to say, since I am new at chess, I was PWND. I found that a3 was a good defensive move against most players. The moment I didn't utilize 5. a3 I was punished severely. Granted, I still have alot to learn about strategy and tactics. You mentioned a group that studys the ACG. How can I join?

d4 d5 c4 e5 cxd d4 e4!

e3 is fine.

In response to some people posting about 3. e3..

My USCF rating is currently at a (1982), I play the Albin in tournaments as my main weapon against the Queen's Gambit, and without fail I have won every game that White has played 3. e3. Actually, I've probably won every game that they have played e3 at any point throughout the game. It's just generally not a smart move with that d4 pawn sitting there.

To be fair though, I've only had 1200s play 3.e3 against me.

now i REALLY want to learn the albin and drop the stonewall straightjacket! i'm trying to play a reversed king's gambit as i play that as white with the Nf3?! latvian and was planning to learn the falkbeer against KG to minimize Nf3 vs Bc4 theory, so if the albin is similar, it would make a nice system to learn along with the falkbeer. i've only recently started playing 1.e4 e5 because of 1.e4 d5 2.e5 and would rather play an unsound rip it open gambit than be patient locked behind my own pawns.

i'm trying to build a gambit repertoire. and am loving smith morra sicilian more than wing gambit declined. i wanted to mirror the english with the smith morra setup, but the 1.c4 d5!? vector gambit is so out of book that it's worth learning different theory for.

i wasn't liking schiller's skimpy schara gambit system in gambit rep for black, but the albin offers a great chance to learn a whole new set of tactics like that Qg6/Bf4 combo.

who knows, maybe i'll take to this new system the same way i did the smith morra just studying the 40 or so lines i could find online as indivodual games and training in predict mode. i'll be trying the albin soon for sure and see how many fall for the lasker trap. i've already notated the skimpy theory i can find online for it and was hoping to find a book to buy.

LOL I came here to read up on the line after just falling into the Lasker trap in an online blitz game. Unfortunately for him he promoted to a Queen not a Knight (I suspect he may have had his settings on 'auto-promote to Q') and got an even position which he managed to lose.. :)

3.e3 exd4 4.exd4 is a variation of the French Exchange (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4) that's usually considered completely harmless except when Miezis is white.

Some QG players like d4 d5,c4 e5, cxd Qxd,because it brings out the black Queen. There is a great Queen sac for black where he gets the Q back. the Albin is for players who like wide open boards,exchanges early and the enemy king in the open because of the forced exchanges. Black has lines to force Queen exchanges and then get castled leaving the white king without center pawn protection. The Albin was popular by Marshall in the early 1900s.

An interesting alternative to other defenses I play.