MNb wrote on 09/02/17 at 20:18:35:
Stefan Buecker wrote on 08/25/17 at 17:52:13:
PS. The title "Nordic Gambit" that I chose for this thread is the German name of the system. If a moderator feels it should be the Anglo-Saxon "Danish Gambit", just change it.
The Dutch name is "Noors Gambiet", which means Norwegian Gambit. Of course it was invented by the
Swede Hans Lindehn.
John Lutes (
Danish Gambit, 1989) lists older sources with 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 and a later c2-c3, for example Ercole del Rio (circa 1800): 3.Bc4 Qf6 4.c3! dxc3 5.Nxc3 Bb4 6.Bd2. If we add the moves Nf3 and Nc6, it would transpose to a later Marshall game, so it's not too weird. Finally Lutes arrives at 3.c3, and says:
Quote: It appears that the subject of our study, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3, began appearing in some analytical games by a Danish jurist, named Blankensteiner, from the Jutland; around 1830. However, the variation went relatively unnoticed for several decades.
... refering to Hooper/Whyld: The Oxford Companion to Chess (1984), as his source.
In 1856 the Swedish master Dr. H. A. W. Lindehn of Uppsala proposed
3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4, and his suggestion inspired other players, a major step for this opening. It seems legitimate to call it the "Nordic Gambit", as quite a few Scandinavian players were involved: Nielsen, Sörensen, Dr. Krause, Borén, Dr. Svenonius. I don't know why it is called "Noors Gambiet" in the Netherlands. With a little luck there could be an explanation in van der Linde's work.
It became "Danish Gambit" in the English world after Martin Severin From used it in Paris 1867, an event covered by the many UK chess magazines and columns. Hard to kill a name once it is established.
The 3...Qe7 line also has older roots, it was called after Rosentreter (my "Rosenthal's" above was a mistake, sorry) only because of several articles that he wrote in
Deutsches Wochenschach 1906 and 1908. The double pawn sacrifice 3...Qe7 4.cxd4 Qxe4+ 5.Be2! was indeed Rosentreter's invention. Nowadays called "Spielmann's move" or "Alekhine's move". Eventually it will become "Nakamura's move", just wait.