Danish Gambit

White offers one pawn, then a second, to plant both bishops on wide-open diagonals and start the attack before Black has finished saying thank you.

The Danish is Romantic-era chess in its purest form, championed by Danish players in the 1860s and a fixture of the era's attacking repertoires. The full point arrives after 3...dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2: White is two pawns down, but the bishops on c4 and b2 rake f7 and g7, the c- and d-files are half open, and Black has spent three moves capturing pawns instead of developing. Every slow move Black makes from here feeds the initiative.

Theory eventually found the calm answer, and it is worth knowing whichever side you sit on: giving a pawn back with ...d5 blunts the c4 bishop, frees Black's game, and takes most of the poison out of the position. That antidote is why the Danish faded from serious play. But an antidote only works if your opponent has it in the bottle.

At club level, most of them do not. The typical game sees Black grab everything, drift a move or two, and then face both bishops, a queen swing, and an e5 push all at once. Playing the Danish is a bet on that scenario. The database says the bet pays.