Latvian Gambit
The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | 17th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Latvian players (Kārlis Bētiņš et al.); Gioachino Greco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Knight Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Greco Countergambit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 16th century by Giulio Cesare Polerio and then the 17th century by Gioachino Greco, after whom it is sometimes named. The opening has the appearance of a King's Gambit with colours reversed. It is an aggressive but objectively dubious opening for Black which often leads to wild and tricky positions. FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos even goes so far as to describe it as "possibly the worst opening in chess". While Paul van der Sterren observes:
What is required to play the Latvian Gambit with any degree of success is a sharp eye for tactics and a mental attitude of total contempt for whatever theory has to say about it.
— Paul van der Sterren, Fundamental Chess Openings
The Latvian is, and has always been, uncommon in top-level over-the-board play, but some correspondence players are devotees.
The ECO code for the Latvian Gambit is C40 (King's Knight Opening).