Latvian Gambit
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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | 17th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Latvian players (Kārlis Bētiņš et al.); Gioachino Greco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Knight Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym | Greco Countergambit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 16th century by Giulio Cesare Polerio and the 17th century by Gioachino Greco, after whom it is sometimes named. The opening has the appearance of a King's Gambit with colours reversed. It is an aggressive but objectively dubious opening for Black which often leads to wild and tricky positions.
The ECO code for the Latvian Gambit is C40, along with several other uncommon responses to 2.Nf3.