Open games & French

Irish Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5

The Irish Gambit starts with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 and is catalogued under ECO C44, in the open games & french half of the book. The catalog indexes 1 line inside it, grouped into 1 named variation.

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Current setup

Move ideas

  1. 1.e4

    Claims the center with a pawn and opens lines for the queen and king’s bishop.

    Idea: Build quick development and make early castling possible.

  2. 1…e5

    Meets White’s center directly and opens lines for Black’s queen and bishop.

    Idea: Fight for equal central space in a balanced, open position.

  3. 2.Nf3

    Develops the king’s knight and attacks Black’s e5-pawn.

    Idea: Increase central pressure while getting ready to castle.

  4. 2…Nc6

    Defends e5 while developing the queen’s knight toward the center.

    Idea: Hold the central pawn and keep several classical setups available.

  5. 3.Nxe5

    Captures the pawn on e5 and changes the local pawn or piece balance.

    Idea: Remove an active defender and improve the moving piece’s influence.

  6. 3…Nxe5

    Captures the knight on e5 and changes the local pawn or piece balance.

    Idea: Remove an active defender and improve the moving piece’s influence.

  7. 4.d4

    Advances to d4 to claim central space and control nearby key squares.

    Idea: Give the pieces room to develop behind a durable central foothold.

Book continuations

Waiting for Lichess game popularity.

0 moves
This is the end of the indexed line.

Named variations

Each line below is an indexed entry under Irish Gambit. Open one to load it on the board and keep exploring from that position.

Openings from the same volume

ECO groups openings by the structures they lead to, so these families tend to share plans with the Irish Gambit.