Quote:


4.Qxd4 Nc6 is a kind of Centre Game, with a lame pawn on c3.

4.cxd4 Qxe4 5.Be3 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 d5 7.Nf3 Bf5 and here I like 8.Qb3 Nc6, Mieses-Rubinstein, Lodz 1905, 9.Bb5 better than 8.Rc1.
So refutation might be too optimistic. As I have made clear a few times before, 3...Qe7 is a respectable move. The only objection is, that 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 Qe7 makes much less sense. So for practical reasons I recommend 3...Ne7 instead.
These two moves (3...Ne7 and 3...Qe7) were important reasons for me to give up the Danish, though I never met them.

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Qe7 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nd2 dxe4 7.Nxe4 Nxe4 8.Qxe4 Qxe4 9.Bxe4

Boy, oh boy!  Now there's some fun for white!

As discussed in the General Chess forum, Davies' recent gambit repertoire book, Gambiteer I, recommends the Danish Gambit.  While looking at his recommendations, I decided to see what Kaufman's repertoire book recommended for the black side.  It was at this point, a move stopped me dead in my tracks:

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Qe7!

This move really seems to kill all of white's fun in the Danish.  3...d5 isn't terribly exciting, but you don't really have to worry about being worse, and there's still a game to play.  But 3...Qe7!--it just looks terrible for white to me!

Here's what looks like the main hope for white in this line:

4.cxd4 Qxe4 5.Be3 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 d5 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Rc1 c6 9.Be2 Nf6 10.0-0 Qe7

"and White's compensation for the pawn is inadequate."--Kaufman

Davies quotes Voigt-Rausis, Hamburg 2000, which after 8.Rc1, runs 8...Qe7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Bg5 c6 13.Rfe1 Qd6 14.Nh4 Nbd7 15.Nf5 Qc7 16.Qh3 ("gave White good attacking chances"--Davies).  In the game, White soon won back the pawn with Nxg7 and Qh6+, and later won the game.

I am not completely convinced of White's compensation in this line, but Kaufman's 8...c6 seems to be an improvement, since it seems Black effectively wins a tempo compared to Voigt-Rausis, as White plays Be2 to castle kingside.  It looks to me like White will have to spend time to move the bishop from Be2, if he's going to make progress on the kingside.  (What else does white play for here?  A minority attack on the queenside?)

If white plays by analogy with Voigt's plan in Kaufman's line (after 8.Rc1 c6 9.Be2 Nf6 10.0-0 Qe7):

11.Bd3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 0-0 13.Bg5

Then the disruptive 13...h6 is a new possibility available for Black with the inclusion of ...c6 protecting d5.

Maybe there other ideas for white, but I don't see anything that looks fruitful.  

Perhaps I am very pessimistic since I am not a true gambiteer, but I there a few things I find very disconcerting in this line (3...Qe7).  First of all, it avoids all of the main theory on the Danish and it is still very strong.  Second, the ideas in this line are very simple and not difficult to learn as black.  It seems like white's options are severely limited and black is directing the course of play.  Third, this is recommended in a major repertoire book that an 1...e5 player is likely to have, regardless of strength.  Put these together and you have a gold mine for the black player.  To me, it is a bit like "discovering" the move 2...d5! against 1.e4 c5 2.f4, but even worse for the white player.  (OK, this is a different type of position, but black is turning the tables on white.  A lot of players stopped playing the Grand Prix with 2.f4 after people started playing 2...d5 regularly.)

Time to forget about playing the Danish?  (Well, maybe I could make an exception for blitz.)