Markovich, I'd be very interested in any thoughts you have (and are willing to share!) on the line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 g6!? - I have never been particularly convinced by White's play in this line, despite very much wanting to be!

Thanks for responding Markovich; I'll definitely take a longer look at your ideas, because I really want 4.Qc2 to work against the Slav (and I don't think White has an edge after 4...dc 5.Qxc4, like Inn2 seems to).  It's a little hard for me to evaluate these positions; like I said earlier, they may just be positions that need to be played.

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I think whites chances are preferable in the 6.Ne5 lines at the moment!

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congrats! - the game looks like a text book example how NOT to play the variation with black

This thread is not meant to start a debate on the correct definition of "gambit". I know 1.d4 d4 2.c4 is not a gambit because of dxc4 3.Qa4+. Since long, like Markovich, I have wondered though if it is possible to play the Queen's Gambit in King's Gambit style and to develop a repertoire on this principle. The idea is of course to allow Black to defend pawn c4 with ...b7-b5 and occupy the centre with e2-e4.

MNb - Calder,H
CL 2007–1, 01.09.2007

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
-2...dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.e4 b5 5.a4 Bb7 6.axb5 axb5 7.Rxa8 Bxa8 8.Nc3 c6 9.Be2 e6 10.0–0 Nf6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Qa1 Nd7 14.d5 cxd5 15.exd5 b4 16.dxe6 fxe6 17.Nh4 Kf7 18.Qd1 Rg8 19.Bxc4 bxc3 20.Qh5+ Ke7 21.Nf5+ exf5 22.Bxg8 c2 23.Qf7+ Kd6 24.Qc4 Be4 25.f3 Ne5 26.Qa6+ Kd7 27.fxe4 Bc5+ 28.Kh1 Qxg8 29.Qa4+ Ke7 30.Qxc2 Bb6 31.exf5 Qc4 32.Qxc4 Nxc4 33.Rf4
MNb - Nielsen,J, EM/H/148, 2004, 1-0 because of the saddest reason thinkable: my opponent passed away.
The other main variation is 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e4. I don't have experience with this; opinions are divides, which for all gambiteers is a good sign.
-2...e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 is the fascinating Marshall Gambit, but see next note.

3.Nf3
-White faces the first move order dilemma. If White wants to allow the Marshall Gambit, he also has to allow 3.Nc3 e5.


3...Nf6
After 3...e6 White has to find another option but 4.e4. At the other hand 3...c6 4.e4 is a sidevariation of the QGA.

4.Nc3 e6
The team had agreed not to take dubious stuff, so I have one game going on with 4...dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3. In line with the repertoire is of course 4...dxc4 5.e4 b5 and if Markovich is right about 6.Qc2 (Spassky Gambit) e6 being Black's best, White indeed has a complete gambit repertoire. See the excellent column Hard Chess, game Morss-Thompson, corr USA 1997. Then you will also understand why this game did not take much effort!

5.Bg5 h6
A second move order dilemma may arise after 5...Nbd7 (Cambridge Springs). I would like to play the Exchange Variation 6.cxd5 but then rather play my knight to e2 iso f3. I haven't figured out yet how to meet this.
I am not entirely sure, as the transpositions are quite bewildering, but 5...dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.Qc2 may transpose to the Spassky Gambit. The game Morss-Thompson might have made clear, that the early combination of Bg5 and Qc2 has some objections.

6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 a5
This is a novelty as far as I know and a logical one. After all Black's trump is his queenside majority. It took me no less than three days to remember Morss-Thompson (have you visited Hard Chess already?). I realised that I could get a superior version, bishop on e2 iso f1, by playing

10.Qc2 g4 11.Ne5 Qxd4 12.Rd1 Qb6
Morss has excellent analysis on this position, with the pawn on a7 and the bishop on f1. 12...Qc5 (similar to Thompson's play) should be better, but still not enough for equality thanks to Be2, which serves as an extra tempo. And every gambiteer knows about the importance of a single tempo. My next move seems to stem from Borisenko.

13.h3 gxh3 14.Rxh3 Bg7??
Of course 14...Ra7 is the only move. My opponent clearly did not know Morss-Thompson. After 14...Bb7, 14...Bb4, 14...Rg8 and 14...Nbd7 I would have played exactly the same:

15.Nxf7 Kxf7 16.e5 Nd5
16...Nbd7 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Be5 does not help either.

17.Bh5+ Kg8 18.Qg6 1–0
It looks like I can only claim copyright on my final move. Thanks, Mark.