The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is the name facetiously given to a dubious chess opening, derived from an offshoot of the Italian Game, that begins:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bc4 Nd4
It is also sometimes referred to as the Kostić Gambit after the Serbian grandmaster Borislav Kostić, who played it in the early 20th century.
History
Wilhelm Steinitz made the first known mention of this line, noting it in 1895 in the Addenda to his Modern Chess Instructor, Part II. The earliest game with the opening on chessgames.com, Dunlop–Hicks, New Zealand Championship, dates from 1911. Another early game, mentioned by Bill Wall, is Muhlock–Kostić, Cologne, 1912.
The beginning 4.Nxe5 "continues to catch victims, including two in successive rounds at Blackpool 1987". If 5...dxc3, White has the initiative in the after 6.Nxc3 d6 7.d4 ; if 5...Bc5, Black loses a pawn to 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ (Wolfgang Unzicker).
The only virtue of 3...Nd4 is that it sets a trap that has ensnared many players. After the natural 4.Nxe5?, Black wins with 4...Qg5! Now the obvious 5.Nxf7 loses to 5...Qxg2, for example 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3, a smothered mate. This trap is what gives the line its name; the great English master Joseph Henry Blackburne reputedly used it to win one shilling per game from café visitors. Wall has questioned this, however, stating that there are no recorded games of Blackburne playing this line.) Qa5? 10.d5 Ne5? 11.Qh5! Nf7? 12.d6+! (in light of 13.Qxa5). White's two pawns and rolling pawn center, combined with Black's misplaced king, give White strong compensation for the sacrificed bishop.
Graham Burgess writes that 3...Nd4 is also known as the "Oh my God!" trap, as for full effect, Black is supposed to make this exclamation, pretending to have accidentally blundered the e-pawn. Burgess condemns this behavior as unethical, and notes that the trap, if avoided, leaves White with a large advantage.
See also
- List of chess openings
- List of chess openings named after people