Stafford Gambit begins when white plays 1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 and black develop his knight to c6, that’s the starting point of Stafford Gambit. Here is the starting position of Stafford Gambit.

The purpose of playing the Stafford gambit for the black side is to disrupt the white’s smooth piece’s development and take control of the center and attack the white king as soon as possible.

Who invented the Stafford gambit?

The Stafford Gambit is named after the American chess player named Joseph Stafford who played this gambit first in 1950.

Is Stafford gambit good?

It’s a good gambit for club and intermediate players and does not sound above a 2000 rating, because it’s a sharp and tactical gambit, amateur and beginner players don’t understand what’s coming next, but at high-level chess, it’s not a good gambit because white know how to handle Stafford’s gambit.

Theory of Stafford Gambit

The theory of Stafford’s gambit is very straightforward, open the center, quickly develop your pieces and attack the king.

The idea behind this gambit is to disturb the smooth development of white pieces and force them to play precisely in the opening, otherwise white will lose the game in the opening phase, which will be very disgusting for white players.

Stafford Gambit Lines

Here is the starting position of Stafford Gambit, and I will continue from the beginning and move by move.

I will explain the logic behind every move in this gambit until we get a dream position in the Stafford gambit.

And from that position, we will watch some model games in order to understand better.

In the above position, the black player sacrificed his pawn and played Nc6 to trade the white’s active knight in the center in order to release some pressure.

The best move for white is to take the knight and double black’s pawn structure.

In the above position white captured black’s knight on c6 and now black has the choice to capture the knight either with b pawn or c pawn. The best move for black is to capture the knight with the d pawn.

Capturing with d pawn gives black development advantage and as a result, black will have

This is the position where white has several moves and we will look most played move in this position and we will see how black get advantages. There are many games played in this position, but we will watch 3 games here.

3 Most played Lines in Stafford Gambit

1. 5.d3

2. 5.Nc3

3. 5.e5

We will discuss 3 variations of the Stafford gambit which I mentioned above one by one. Let’s start with the first simple and logical move 5.d3

5.d3 line in Stafford Gambit

Let’s talk about the above position, white is a pawn up and he just protected his extra pawn and center. What’s in black’s hand? Black has activated his both bishops developed a knight and opened up his queen for actions.

I hope now you know that in this position black has a development advantage, which is one of the main advantages which every chess player must look to win.

Now the next question is how to convert this advantage into a win. Well, I am here to illustrate the whole plan from the black side so you can understand the position and win a lot of games.

In the above position, the best move for black is Bc5. Yes, we are aiming for the white’s king, that’s why the black sacrificed his pawn.

Famous Trap in Stafford Gambit

There are many traps in Stafford’s gambit but this one which I am going to show is the most beautiful, In the above position if white tries to pin our active knight by playing Bg5.

Now it’s black’s turn, can you find the best move for black in the above position? think for the moment!

Let’s see if you found the best move, the best move in this position is Nxe4!!.

Yes, it’s a thriller, black knight is unpinned and it’s threatening to capture the bishop, while the white is threatening to capture our queen. If white captures our queen then he will be checkmated, and that’s what most beginners and amateurs players will do in this position.

Let’s find out how black will checkmate white when white captures black’s queen.

White has taken the black’s queen, and now it’s black’s turn and will checkmate white. Can you guess the move for black?

Yes, that’s right, black should the f2 pawn with bishop because it’s forcing move and it delivers a check, now white’s king only has one move which is ke2.

I hope you guessed the move for black in order to deliver checkmate. Yes, it’s Bg4 Checkmate!

That’s right, you delivered a checkmate.

There is more deviation in this trap, on move 6th Nxe4 if white does not capture your queen and instead, he captures your knight then you can win white’s queen. Let’s discuss with pictures.

In the above position, when white captures your knight with dxe4. Then you can win white’s queen.

Have you found the best for black and how will black win white’s queen? Congrats in advance if you found the best move for black. Here is a solution.

Black’s queen is also hanging but it’s the white king who is in check right now if white takes the bishop we will win white’s queen and if not then white has only one king’s move which is ke2.

Can you find black’s best move in the above position?

Now white has only one move, which is to take Bf2 with the king which is a forcing move, after white’s move black will capture white’s queen with Qxd1.

If you want to prepare for Stratford gambit, then you should watch more games in this line, therefore I have selected some of the best games in Stratford gambit.

Best Games for 5.d3 line in Stafford Gambit

Here you will watch the 3 best chess games of my selection in the 5.d3 line. Let’s watch these three games and don’t forget to switch the board to the black side for a better view.

5.d3 Line in Stafford

5.d3 line Game 1 in Stafford gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

5.d3 line Game 2 in Stafford gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

5.d3 line Game 3 in Stafford gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

Conclusion of 5.d3 line in Stafford gambit

Those three games that I mentioned above were played on chess.com in a blitz tournament and you may find some inaccuracies as well.

The whole point of mentioning these games is that you should know what to do in the middlegame and after the development of black pieces, the black players should launch an attack on the white king.

5.Nc3 line in Stafford Gambit

This is a more solid line than d3 in Stafford’s gambit. The purpose of playing Nc3 is to protect e4 and at the same time develop a minor piece.

Again with the black side, we will develop as fast as we can, that’s why the best move for black is Bc5, developing a piece and aiming at white king.

Black developed a bishop which is aimed at the white king and black is ready to castle. In the above position, we will watch 3 chess games, in order to understand gameplay in Stafford gambit.

5.Nc3 line Game 1 in Stafford Gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

5.Nc3 line Game 2 in Stafford Gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

5.Nc3 line Game 3 in Stafford Gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

Conclusion of 5.Nc3 line Stafford Gambit

In conclusion, in 5.Nc3 line we do have the same plan, development of pieces, and quick attack on the king.

Please note that some players in Nc3 may castle the long side, and if they castle the long side then we should switch the attack to the long side by opening up the center.

And if they castle a short side then we have to attack the king. The conclusion is to develop all pieces and launch an attack on the king.

5. E5 in Stafford Gambit

What if white is not protecting his central extra pawn, instead white pushes to disturb our smooth development and white plays e5.

So far we have learned that in Stafford gambit we have to develop pieces real quick and then launch an attack on the white king. So we are not afraid of white’s last move and we will develop quickly.

Our knight is not going back and our knight is attacking in white’s camp. In the above position, we will watch two games so we can understand the position.

5.e5 line Game 1 in Stafford Gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

You may notice that in this game black castled the long side because white was behind in the development and black took the opportunity to castle long and then opened up a center and launched a direct attack on white’s king.

5.e5 line Game 2 in Stafford Gambit

[Note: Please flip the chess board to the black side for a better view]

Conclusion of Stafford Gambit

The one general scheme we should remember is that when you are playing Stafford Gambit you should not worry about pawns instead you should think of various ways to disturb white’s development and attack the white king.

This gambit is not sound on the highest level and it can only be useful in a blitz game. So it’s my suggestion that you should not play Stafford gambit if you are playing above 2000 rated players below a 2000 rating it may be useful in a blitz game not in a standard game.

If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to ask in the comments or in questions.