White tries against the Budapest Gambit

An appetiser: the Englund Gambit

Brian complained that he lost quickly facing this line. You might guess he fell into a trap which may be the main hope of Black when playing this line:

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.07.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Opening Workshop 2018"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A40"]
[PlyCount "16"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2018.08.07"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.08.07"]

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 (4. e4) (4. Nc3 Nxe5 5. e4 {and Black
is going to struggle to get sorted quickly.}) (4. Qd5) 4... Qb4+ 5. Bd2 Qxb2 6.
Bc3 (6.Nc3!) 6...Bb4 7. Qd2 Bxc3 8. Qxc3 Qc1# *

Perhaps White can survive and even thrive after 6.Nc3, but why invite trouble? Once you know ...Qb4+ might be a problem, improvements are not hard to find. 4.Nc3 is simple and good.

Anyhow, back to the Budapest Gambit. A brief statement for the defence: the first famous game played using it, and a more recent example.

[Event "Berlin"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "1918.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rubinstein, Akiba"]
[Black "Vidmar, Milan Sr"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A52"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1918.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "HCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 7. Qd5 Bxc3+
8. bxc3 Qa3 9. Rc1 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. Qd2 d6 12. Nd4 O-O 13. e3 Nxd4 14. cxd4
Ne4 15. Qc2 Qa5+ 16. Ke2 Rxf4 17. exf4 Bf5 18. Qb2 Re8 19. Kf3 Nd2+ 20. Kg3
Ne4+ 21. Kh4 Re6 22. Be2 Rh6+ 23. Bh5 Rxh5+ 24. Kxh5 Bg6+ 0-1

[Event "rooks on ranks and files"]
[Site "rooks on ranks and files"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Whiteley"]
[Black "Agnos"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A52"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1994.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Ncxe5 8.
Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Nc3 Re8 10. b3 a5 11. Bb2 Ra6 {[#] "A hacker's paradise" - CHESS
magazine} 12. Ne4 Ba7 13. Qd5 Rae6 {[#] The Rook pauses to support the Knight
on the half-open e-file} 14. Qxa5 Bb6 15. Qc3 Qh4 16. f4 Rh6 {[#] We all knew
that's where it really wanted to go.} 17. h3 d5 18. Ng5 Qg3 19. c5 Bxh3 20.
Nxh3 Rxh3 21. Qe1 Qh2+ 22. Kf2 Bxc5 {[#] Resigns 0-1} 23. Bd4 Qxf4+ 24. exf4
Bxd4# 0-1

The repertoire books I have available all assure us that you can get a safe plus against the Budapest without much effort.

They all recommend different lines, however! I don't know if that is so reassuring...

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.07.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "White tries against"]
[Black "Budapest Gambit"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A52"]
[Annotator "Theo"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2018.07.24"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.07.24"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 (3... Ne4 4. a3 (4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bb4 6. a3
Nxd2 7. Bxd2 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 b6 9. e3 Bb7 10. Be2 Qe7 11. Qc3 O-O-O 12. Rc1 g5
13. c5 {Budapest Fajarowicz + 3 d5 ChessPub Guide 2002})) 4. Bf4 {Watson} (4.
Nf3 {Palliser, Avrukh} Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9.
Nc3 Re8 (9... d6 10. b3 Qh4 11. Bb2 Ng4 12. h3 $1 $146 {Avrukh} Nf6 (12... Nxf2
13. Rxf2 Bxe3 14. Qe1 Bxh3 15. Nd5 Bc5 16. b4 Bxf2+ 17. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 18. Kxf2 Be6
19. Nxc7 Rac8 20. Nxe6 fxe6+ 21. Ke3 $16) 13. Bf3 Re8 (13... Qg5 14. Nb5 $1)
14. Nb5 Re7 (14... Bb6 15. Bd4 $14) 15. Bd4 $14) (9... a5 10. f4 (10. b3 Ra6
11. f4) 10... Nc6 (10... Ng6) 11. Bd3 d6 12. Qh5 f5 13. Kh1 Rf6 14. Nd5 Rf7 15.
b3 Nb4 16. Nxb4 axb4 17. Bb2 Bxe3 18. Rf3 g6 19. Qh6 Bd2 20. Bf1 Bc3 21. Rxc3
bxc3 22. Bxc3 Qf8 23. Qh3 Re7 24. Bb2 h5 25. Qc3 Kh7 26. a4 Bd7 27. c5 Bc6 28.
a5 dxc5 29. a6 b6 30. b4 Re4 31. bxc5 b5 32. Bd3 Re7 33. h3 Qf7 34. Bf1 Qe6 35.
a7 Qe3 36. Qxe3 Rxe3 37. Be5 Rxe5 38. fxe5 b4 39. Bc4 Kg7 40. Kg1 g5 41. g3 f4
42. gxf4 gxf4 43. Kf2 Be4 44. e6 Bc6 45. e7 h4 46. Ra6 Be8 47. Bd5 c6 48. Bxc6
Bxc6 49. Rxc6 b3 50. Rb6 Kf7 51. e8=Q+ Rxe8 52. Rxb3 Ra8 53. c6 Ke7 54. Rb8 {
1-0 (54) Mihajlovic,V (2315)-Vico,M (2160) Vrnjacka Banja 1996}) 10. Ne4 {
Palliser} (10. b3 $1 {Avrukh} a5 (10... d6 11. Bb2 Bd7 (11... Re6 12. g3 $5)
12. Qc2 Bc6 13. Rad1 Ng6 14. Nd5 Nh4 {0-1 (25) Roeschlau,B (2280)-Fohler,C
Mengen 1990 0-1 (25) Roeschlau,B (2280) -Fohler,C Mengen 1990} 15. g3 $1 $146)
11. Na4 $1 (11. Bb2 Ra6 {[#] "A hacker's paradise" - CHESS magazine} 12. Ne4
Ba7 13. Qd5 Rae6 {[#] The Rook pauses to support the Knight on the half-open
e-file} 14. Qxa5 Bb6 15. Qc3 Qh4 16. f4 Rh6 {[#] We all knew that's where it
really wanted to go.} 17. h3 d5 18. Ng5 Qg3 19. c5 Bxh3 20. Nxh3 Rxh3 21. Qe1
Qh2+ 22. Kf2 Bxc5 {[#] Resigns 0-1} 23. Bd4 Qxf4+ 24. exf4 Bxd4# {0-1 (24)
Whiteley-Agnos rooks on ranks and files 1994}) 11... Bf8 $1 (11... Ba7 12. c5
$1) (11... Qe7 12. Nxc5 Qxc5 13. Qd5 $1) 12. f4 Ng6 (12... Nc6 13. Bf3 Ra6 {
Moskalenko} (13... d6 14. Qd2 Bf5 15. Bb2 $1 {Avrukh}) 14. a3 $1 {Avrukh}) 13.
Qd3 $1 $146 {Avrukh} d6 (13... Ra6 14. e4 Rd6 15. Qc2) 14. Nc3 $14) 10... Bf8
11. Ng3 {White scores 60%+ from here} d6 (11... a5 12. f4) 12. f4 Nd7 13. e4
Nc5 14. Bf3 g6 15. Be3 Bg7 16. Bd4 Bxd4+ 17. Qxd4 Ne6 18. Qd2 Qf6 19. Ne2 Rb8
20. g3 b6 21. Rad1 Bb7 22. Nc3 Nc5 23. e5 dxe5 24. Bxb7 Nxb7 25. Nd5 Qd6 26.
fxe5 Rxe5 27. Nf6+ Kg7 28. Qxd6 Nxd6 29. Nd7 Rbe8 30. Nxe5 Rxe5 31. b3 h5 32.
Rfe1 Ra5 33. Re2 Nf5 34. Rd5 Ra3 35. Rd7 c5 36. Kg2 h4 37. g4 Nd4 38. Rf2 a5
39. g5 Nf5 40. Ra7 Kf8 41. Re2 Kg7 42. Ra8 {1-0 (42) Giorgadze,T (2505)
-Alvarez,R (2370) Malaga 1987}) (4. e3 Nxe5 5. Nh3 {Burgess & Pedersen 70%}
Bb4+ (5... Nbc6 6. Nf4 Bc5 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Nc3 a5 10. b3 Re8 11. Bb2
Bf5 12. Kh1 Rc8 13. Nb5 Qd7 14. Nd4 Be4 15. f3 Bg6 16. a3 f6 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18.
e4 Bf7 19. Nd5 Kh8 20. f4 Ng6 21. Nxf6 gxf6 22. Bxf6+ Kg8 23. f5 {1-0 (23) Van
Asperen,R (2258) -Soentges,K (2437) IECG email 1998 1-0 (23) Van Asperen,R 
(2258) -Soentges,K (2437) IECG email 1998}) (5... g6 $5 {Moskalenko} 6. Nf4 Bg7
7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 d6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qd2 a5 11. b3 Nc5 12. Ba3 b6 13. Rad1 Bb7
14. Nfd5 f5 15. Qc2 Rf7 16. h3 c6 17. Nf4 Qc7 18. Rfe1 Rd8 19. Bb2 Ned7 20. a3
Nf6 21. b4 axb4 22. axb4 Na6 23. Qb3 c5 24. bxc5 bxc5 25. Nb5 {1-0 (25)
Aleksandrov,A (2617) -Gorbatov,A (2421) St Petersburg 2008}) (5... Ng6 $5) 6.
Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 d6 8. Nf4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Be2 a5 11. O-O Nc5 12. Rad1 Bf5
13. f3 g5 (13... Re8) 14. Nh5 Bd3 15. Bxd3 Nexd3 16. Qc2 Ne5 17. Qf5 f6 18. Nd5
Ncd7 19. f4 Nxc4 20. Qxd7 Qxd7 21. Nhxf6+ Kg7 22. Nxd7 Rf7 23. Rc1 {1-0 (23)
Albrecht,R (2270) -Barberi,A (2220) Vienna 1996}) 4... Nc6 (4... g5 5. Bg3 (5.
Bd2) 5... Bg7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. h4 $1 $14 {Taylor} (7. Nc3 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. e3
d6 10. c5 $1 $16 {Watson})) 5. Nf3 Bb4+ (5... Bc5 6. e3 Qe7 7. Nc3) 6. Nbd2 {
transposes} (6. Nc3 {Kaufmann} Bxc3+ (6... Qe7 $2 {35} 7. Qb3 $1 {38} Bc5 {34}
8. e3 {37} Ngxe5 9. Nxe5 {35} (9. Nd5 $1 Qd6 10. O-O-O f6 11. Nd4 Kf7 12. Nb5
Qf8 13. Bg3 $18) 9... Nxe5 {33} 10. Nd5 Qd6 11. Qc3 {31} f6 12. Rd1 {30} a5 {31
} 13. Nxf6+ {29} gxf6 {29} 14. Rxd6 Bb4 {28} 15. Rxf6 {27} d6 {27} 16. Bxe5
dxe5 17. Bd3 {25} Ke7 18. Rh6 Be6 {26} 19. Ke2 {24} Bxc3 20. bxc3 e4 {25} 21.
Bxe4 {23} Bxc4+ {22} 22. Kd2 Bxa2 {21} 23. Bxb7 Rab8 {20} 24. Ra1 {21} Rxb7 {19
} 25. Rxa2 Rb5 26. Ra6 Rd8+ {16} 27. Ke2 {20} Rc5 28. R6xa5 Rxc3 29. Rh5 {19}
Rh8 {15} 30. Kd2 Rc6 31. Rc2 Rd6+ {14} 32. Ke2 c6 33. e4 {18} Kd7 34. Rd2 h6
35. Rxd6+ Kxd6 36. Kd3 Kc7 {13} 37. Kc4 {17} Kb6 38. e5 Ra8 39. Rxh6 Ra4+ 40.
Kb3 Re4 {12} 41. e6 c5 42. e7+ Kb5 43. Rh7 Kc6 {11} 44. h4 Kd7 {10} 45. h5 Re2
46. Rf7 Ke8 47. Rf3 {16} Re5 {7} 48. h6 Rxe7 49. Re3 Rxe3+ 50. fxe3 Kf7 51. g4
Kg6 52. g5 {1-0 (52) Slade,T (2070)-Hernandez,J (1575) Lake County Chess Club
2018 [Theo]}) 7. bxc3 Qe7 8. Qd5 f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Qd3 d6 11. g3 O-O 12. Bg2
Bg4 13. O-O Rae8 14. Rab1 b6 15. Rbe1 Kh8 16. Bg5 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Ne5 18. Qb7
Nxc4 19. Qxa7 Qe5 20. Qa6 Qc5 21. Bxf6 Rxf6 22. Rd1 c6 23. Rd4 d5 24. e4 Ne5
25. exd5 Qxc3 26. Rdd1 cxd5 27. Rxd5 Ref8 28. Qe2 Nf3+ 29. Kh1 h6 30. Rfd1 Ng5
31. Rd8 Qc5 32. Rxf8+ Qxf8 33. Rd2 Re6 34. Qf1 Qe7 35. Rd1 Re2 36. Kg1 Rxa2 37.
Qc4 Re2 38. Kf1 Re6 39. Qc8+ Kh7 40. Qc2+ Kh8 41. Qc8+ Kh7 42. Bd5 Rf6 43. Bg8+
Kg6 44. Re1 Qf8 45. Qc2+ Kh5 46. Bd5 Qb4 47. f4 Rf8 48. Qd1+ Kg6 49. Qd3+ Kh5
50. Rb1 Qc5 51. Rb5 {1-0 (51) Nikolic,P (2597)-Hector,J (2592) Germany 2010})
6... Qe7 (6... f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. e3 Qxb2 9. Be2 d6 10. O-O O-O 11. Nb3 Qf6 (
11... Nge5 12. c5) 12. c5) 7. e3 (7. a3 $2 Ngxe5 8. axb4 $4 (8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. e3
Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 d6 11. Qc3 (11. c5 dxc5 12. Qd5) 11... b6 (11... O-O 12. c5) (
11... f6 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O) 12. c5 $1 bxc5 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.
Rd1) 8... Nd3#) 7... Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Be2 O-O (9... d6 10. O-O Bxd2 11.
Qxd2) 10. O-O {idea Nb3 & a3} Bxd2 (10... Ng6 $1 {Taylor} 11. Bg3 Bd6 12. Bxd6
Qxd6 13. Rc1 (13. Ne4 Qe7 (13... Qe5 14. Nc3 d6 15. Qd2 Bd7 16. Rac1 Rfe8 17.
Nd5 $1 {Avrukh} (17. Nb5 {1-0 (31) Shipov, S (2540) -Tzermiadianos,A (2200)
Athens 1997 1-0 (31) Shipov, S (2540) -Tzermiadianos,A (2200) Athens 1997})
17... Rec8 (17... Rac8 18. f4 $1) 18. f4 Qe8 19. f5 Ne7 20. f6 Nxd5 21. cxd5)
14. Nc3 d6 15. Nd5 (15. Qd4) 15... Qd8 16. Qb3 (16. Qd4 c6 17. Nc3 Qe7 18. Rad1
Rd8 19. f4 f5 20. g3 Nh8 21. e4 $1 (21. Bf3 {1/2-1/2 (31) Gustafsson,J (2355)
-Lamprecht,F (2400) Hamburg 1997}) 21... Nf7 22. Bh5 Re8 23. Rfe1 $16 {Avrukh})
16... Rb8 17. Qa3 Ra8 18. Rad1 Be6 {=Taylor} 19. Rd2 (19. f4) 19... Re8 20.
Rfd1 b6 21. Qc3 {Watson}) 13... Qe5 14. Qc2 d6 15. Nf3 Qe7 16. Nd4 $1 {Watson})
(10... a5 11. Nb3 a4 12. Nd4 d6 13. Nc2 Bc5 14. b4 axb3 15. axb3 Bf5 16. Nd4
Bg6 17. Qd2 f6 18. Bg3 Rfe8 19. b4 Bb6 20. Qc3 c6 21. Nb3 Bc7 22. b5 Bf7 23.
Nd4) 11. Qxd2 d6 (11... a5) 12. b4 {White scores over 70% from here} b6 13. c5
{White tries against-Budapest Gambit} *