Editing Latvian Gambit (section)

{{Short description|Chess opening}}
{{Infobox chess opening
|openingname = Latvian Gambit
|image = {{Chess diagram|| 
|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd
|pd|pd|pd|pd|  |  |pd|pd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |pd|pd|  |  
|  |  |  |  |pl|  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |nl|  |  
|pl|pl|pl|pl|  |pl|pl|pl
|rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|  |rl
}}
|moves=1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5
|ECO=C40
|birth= 17th century
|nameorigin = Latvian players ([[Kārlis Bētiņš]] et al.); [[Gioachino Greco]]
|parentopening = [[King's Knight Opening]]
|AKA= Greco Countergambit
|chessgid=1094595&move=3&moves=e4.e5.Nf3.f5&nodes=21720.21721.21722.1094595
}}
The '''Latvian Gambit''' (or '''Greco Countergambit''') is a [[chess opening]] characterised by the moves:

:1. [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4|e4]] [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5|e5]] 
:2. [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3|Nf3]] [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...f5|f5]]{{chesspunc|?!}}

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 {{chessgloss|colours reversed}}. It is an aggressive but objectively dubious opening for Black which often leads to wild and tricky positions.<ref>[[John Nunn]], [[Graham Burgess]], [[John Emms (chess player)|John Emms]], and [[Joseph Gallagher|Joe Gallagher]], ''Nunn's Chess Openings'', Everyman Chess, 1999, p. 285. {{ISBN|1-85744-221-0}}.</ref><ref name="MCO-15p.144">[[Nick de Firmian]], ''Modern Chess Openings, 15th edition'', Random House Puzzles & Games, 2008, p. 144. {{ISBN|978-0-8129-3682-7}}.</ref> FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos even goes so far as to describe it as "possibly the worst opening in chess".<ref>Dennis Monokroussos, [http://en.chessbase.com/post/one-man-s-trash-is-another-man-s-treasure ''One man’s trash is another man’s treasure''], ChessBase, 8 November 2007</ref> While [[Paul van der Sterren]] observes:
{{blockquote|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 {{chessgloss|over-the-board}} play, but some [[correspondence chess|correspondence]] players are devotees.<ref name="MCO-15p.144"/><ref>[http://www.ficgs.com/wikichess_685.html Latvian Gambit analysed by correspondence chess players], Wikichess.</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings|ECO]]'' code for the Latvian Gambit is C40 ([[King's Knight Opening]]).
{{AN chess|pos=toc}}