Stafford Gambit | The Refutation

Course 18 episodes
(48 min)

Creators GM Avetik Grigoryan

Out of all the Abracadabra Gambits you may face the Stafford Gambit is objectively the worst yet practically the best.

Heavily popularized by streamers and YouTubers such as Eric Rosen, the Stafford Gambit is full of tricks and traps that make it very dangerous for White to face if they’re unprepared.

From the opening, (1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5, Nc6?!) Black gambits a pawn in order to open up their Bishops and Queen, with the idea of starting an aggressive attack...

The good news? If White knows how to play correctly then Black ends up in a completely lost position. And luckily for you this is exactly what you’ll learn from this course.

While there are a few ways that the Stafford Gambit can be refuted we found that the easiest way is simply to accept the Gambit and follow it up with the move 5.d3. As Black typically places their Bishop on c5, the move 5.d3 helps to win tempos and gain the center after the impending c3 and d4!

Not only do you end up with an extra pawn but strategically you have a completely winning position – without having to memorize many moves.

Below are some of the positions from the course:

Stafford Gambit

Ready to see the move-by-move refutation of the Stafford Gambit?

Let's dive in!

Additional reading: You may also find it useful to read our introductory article about the Stafford Gambit, which explains the history behind it, traps, ideas, and alternative refutations.