Can anyone tell me name of this opening where knight is sacrificed?

Question

Is there any way to take knight and save rook at same time?

Please do tell name, so I can search on YouTube.

 [FEN ""]

 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+

PhishMaster · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-26T23:20:59.870

33

As Akavall said correctly, it is the Damiano Defense, and is named after Pedro Damiano (1480–1544).

Since he answered the basic question about the name, I would not normally, but there is an additional part to the question, so I am going to add that 2...f6? is virtually a forced loss, no matter how you play it, and here is the analysis. So, no you cannot take the knight, and save the rook, or worse happens.

 [FEN ""]

 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 $2 (3... Qe7 4. Nf3 Qxe4+ 5. Be2 d5 6. O-O {And black is already dead on the e-file. The immediate threat is Bb5+ and Re1 winning the queen. The ugly Ne7 is the best move here.} Ne7) 4. Qh5+ Ke7 (4... g6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxh8 Qxe4+ 7. Kd1 $18) 5. Qxe5+ Kf7 6. Bc4+ d5 (6... Kg6 7. Qf5+ Kh6 8. h4 $1 Qe7 9. d3+ g5 10. hxg5+ Kg7 11. Bd2 d5 12. Bc3+ Nf6 13. gxf6+ {And mates in four.}) 7. Bxd5+ Kg6 8. h4 h6 (8... h5 9. Bxb7 Bd6 10. Qa5 Nc6 11. Bxc6 Rb8) 9. Bxb7 Bd6 (9... Bxb7 10. Qf5#) 10. Qb5 Nf6 11. Bxa8 $18

edited Jan 26 '20 at 23:20

answered Jan 26 '20 at 21:47

PhishMaster

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And let's mention that it was named after Damiano because he mentioned it in his book, and called it an awful line for black! Not because he advocated it or played it. – RemcoGerlich Jan 27 '20 at 15:22
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What is the +- notation? – corsiKa Jan 27 '20 at 22:58
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@corsiKa, that means decisive advantage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_annotation_symbols – PhishMaster Jan 27 '20 at 23:09
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Thank you all for answering. It was nice. – Anubhav Goel Jan 28 '20 at 02:14
The 3...Qe7 line is definitely far from a forced loss – David Aug 15 '20 at 10:59

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 26 '20 at 21:26

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The opening you are after is Damiano Defense: 1.e5 e4 2.Nf3 f6.

Note that after 3. Nxf3 fe? is a mistake, 3...Qe7 keeps the material equal. There is no way to take the knight and save the rook as far as I know.

answered Jan 26 '20 at 21:26

Akavall

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score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 16 '20 at 02:33

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The knight is not sacrificed. If black takes it then he will regret it. The best is to lose the rook and have a bad position.

To answer the other half of your question: Ke7 saves the rook but leads to a terrible position.

After QxP+, black has to play Kf7, then white moves Bc4+. It's all downhill from there until Black is mated.

edited Aug 16 '20 at 02:33

answered Jan 26 '20 at 21:35

edwina oliver

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Isn't that the whole point of a sacrifice? Losing a piece in order to gain an advantage your opponent didn't see by taking the piece? – corsiKa Jan 28 '20 at 02:28
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not a sacrifice when it wins the exchange or mates no matter what the opponent does. – edwina oliver Jan 28 '20 at 02:31
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It's not a direct sacrifice perhaps, but since Chess is all about working a couple of steps ahead I don't see a reason why it wouldn't count as a sacrifice. Honestly I don't know where it's defined. – Mast Jan 28 '20 at 07:27

Can anyone tell me name of this opening where knight is sacrificed?

3 Answers3