The Greenland Gambit

Introduction

Chess, at the end of the day, is all about checkmate - the more beautiful the better !
*- It's also about crushing the other person's ego - if you're a Fischer fan !! -> > > > Look at the positions 1-4 below:

Surely these are (a) from the romantic era or (b) played between absolute beginners - you might think!

Well neither is true - they all arise from an opening I've christened the Greenland Gambit.

The Greenland Gambit (Van Geet Opening: Dunst-Perrenet Gambit)

The position arises after the following moves: 1.e4 d5 2.d3 dxe4 3.Nc3 exd3 4.Bd2 dxc2 5.Qc2:

Lichess Opening Explorer gives it the name of Van Geet Opening: Dunst-Perrenet Gambit ( Bd2, dxc2, Qxc2 line).

I've chosen to stick with a Scandinavian flavor since the initial position arises from the Scandinavian but resembles a Danish gambit and its double pawn sacrifice.

Hence, The Greenland Gambit.

Incidentally all the other Scandinavian countries have a gambit already associated with them !

Initial Position Evaluation and Plans

Most people will object that nobody will accept the pawns but I can attest otherwise having played over 200 games in this accepted line.

The fish gives an evaluation of -1.1(ish) despite white being two pawns down.

It's obvious that white has some compensation in terms of development, open lines and straightforward attacking plans.

Quite a few games are over in under 20 moves at blitz controls
simply because black doesn't have the time to figure out the multiple threats
from the array of white pieces bearing down on its king and queen.

White normally plays 6.0-0-0 against the majority of black's 5th move replies.

There are three main plans for white:> > > > A. Gang up on c7 and either force a mate or win the black queen:> > > >

Mates 1 and 2 above generally arise from Plan A.> > > > B. Start with Plan (A) but actually deliver mate along the d- or e-files:> > > >
Mates 3 and 4 above generally arise from Plan B.> > > > C. Develop naturally and launch a Kingside attack after black castles and thinks it has escaped the worst:> > > >
Plan C generally leads to a longer game and less exotic checkmating patterns. The game below is typical of a final position:

Like a (stock)fish out of water!

I sent on this idea to jonathanschrantz who essayed it against stockfish on his youtube channel a while back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXw1ata7KPg

The game is shown below:

###> > > > He is mainly a fan of Plan C as outlined above.

Other sporadic practitioners of the Greenland on lichess from an opening search are: sgtlaugh, why11not and phearlezz.

Over the board

Unsurprisingly, the Greenland doesn't show up in a search of Megabase 25 !

I once wheeled it out at a classical OTB many years ago
against a well known gambiteer on the Irish chess circuit.
He duly declined (!!) the gambit and dispatched me in due course.
His postmortem was something to the effect - is that something you play online!

So, for now, I can only recommend this at short (3+2) time controls.

Closing Remarks

I have created 3 game collections in The Greenland for anybody interested.
Short Wins

Study 2

Study 3

I hope to continue this series with a more in-depth look at typical replies for black from the starting position

Give it a whirl and let me know how you get on in the comments below !!

P.S. - Even More Thrill(er)s in the Scandinavian !

While writing this blog I came across a related and maybe even more dangerous gambit !!
This is the Michael Jackson gambit, courtesy of the YouTuber Adamisko.

Instead of 4.Bd2, white plays 4.Nf3

There is an excellent study on this line here: