How to Beat the Alien Gambit
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Ng5 h6 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Nf3 c5!
Take the knight and play 7...c5. Answer the bishop check with 8...e6 and the knight check with 8...Kg8, and leave the pawn on d5 alone. That's enough to stay ahead on material and come out of the opening better.
After 7...c5 White scores 46%. In a normal Caro-Kann White gets about 52%, so the score is already on Black's side.
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d c b 8 a The position after 7...c5. Try White's replies yourself: the panel lists what gets played here at each rating and how it scores, and the engine is a click away. The panel starts with rapid and classical games, so its shares differ from the ones below, which include blitz.
Why the gambit scored so well for so long, and how Black learned to fight it, is in our article on the Alien Gambit. Here's only what you need at the board.
You can skip the gambit altogether
White sacrifices after 5...h6, when the knight is attacked and has to decide. The knight on g5 isn't threatening anything yet, so there's no need to chase it.
The best move here is 5...c5. The engine puts it first, and it's the best in the games too. White scores 46.6%, against 55.9% after 5...h6. At 2200+ the gap is nearly as wide, 43.5% against 51.0%. Only 4.4% of games go this way. White can still give the knight on f7, and then Black is clearly better.
1 2 7 h f e d c b 8 a But half of all players answer 5...h6 anyway. The hand just goes there. The rest of this article is about that case.
Step 1. Take the knight
6...Kxf7. 99.9% of players do, and there's nothing to think about here.
White doesn't always sacrifice, though. The retreat 6.N5f3 is covered further down.
Step 2. 7.Nf3 c5
Almost eight games in ten go on with 7.Nf3. This is where it's all decided.
The most natural move loses. After 7...Bg4?? the pinned knight jumps away with check, 8.Ne5+, and uncovers the queen. The bishop is attacked twice and defended once, and White scores 84%. One game in five after 7.Nf3 goes this way.
1 2 7 h f d b 8 a The right idea is to hit the centre. White's knight wants e5, and what holds it there is the pawn on d4. 7...c5 attacks that pawn at once, before White's pieces have come out.
1 2 7 h f d c b 8 a Step 3. White's five replies
1 2 7 h f d c b 8 a - 8.Bc4+35%
- 8.Ne5+29%
- 8.c316%
- 8.d511%
- 8.Bd38%
| White plays | Your reply | White's score | Engine (cloud / SF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.Bc4+ | 8...e6 | 41% | −1.8 / −2.1 |
| 8.Ne5+ | 8...Kg8 | 39% | −1.7 / −2.2 |
| 8.c3 | 8...Nc6 | 45% | −2.7 / −2.3 |
| 8.d5 | 8...Kg8 | 39% | −2.1 / −2.6 |
| 8.Bd3 | 8...cxd4 | 43% | −2.1 / −2.5 |
The checks are easy to get wrong, and the price is high. After 8.Bc4+, blocking with 8...Be6 gives White 82%, and stepping back with 8...Ke8 gives 60%. After 8.Ne5+, 8...Ke8 brings White 63%. The king goes to g8 and nowhere else.
In the main line after 8.Bc4+ e6 9.Ne5+ Kg8 10.c3 Nc6, White forks with 11.Ng6 in about half the games. Don't panic. 11...cxd4 12.Nxh8 Kxh8, and Black has two knights for a rook. The engine rates that at more than three pawns in Black's favour.
1 2 7 h f d c 8 a 8.d5: the trap after 7...c5
The pawn on d5 looks free. The hand goes there again.
8...Qxd5?? 9.Bc4, and the queen is pinned to the king. Taking the bishop doesn't help, because 9...Qxc4 10.Ne5+ forks the king and the queen. White scores 88% after 8...Qxd5. Black grabs the pawn in 44% of games, and at 2200+ it's still more than one player in four.
1 2 7 h f c b 8 a Move the king first with 8...Kg8. It's still on the same diagonal, but Ne5 no longer comes with check, so that fork is gone. White scores 39%.
If White plays 9.Bc4 the pawn is defended, and taking it now loses a piece. So chase the bishop with 9...b5! It can't take, because 10.Bxb5 Qa5+ picks it up.
1 2 7 h g f d c b 8 a If White turned off earlier
7.Bc4+ comes up in 17% of games after 6...Kxf7. The blocks 7...Be6 and 7...e6 both work, and White scores about 48% after them. Don't step back to e8, that's 64%.
7.Bd3 comes up in 3–4% of games. Play 7...c5 again. White scores 47%, and after 7...e6 it's already 53%.
6.N5f3 means there's no gambit at all. White retreats in 35% of games after 5...h6, and at 2200+ in more than half. The position is a normal one, and Black has nothing to worry about. Play 6...Bf5, and White scores 47%. The popular 6...Bg4 gives White 54%.
1 2 7 h f d b 8 a 1 2 7 h f d c b 8 a 1 2 7 h f e d b 8 a One idea to watch: Bg6+
With your king on f7, one idea keeps coming back. White's bishop stands on d3, in front of the queen on d1. Bg6+ is then a check that opens the d-file, and a queen on that file with no defender falls.
- 7.Bd3 c5 8.dxc5. Play 8...Nc6, so that the queen has a defender.
- 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.Nxd4. Play 9...e5 or 9...e6. After the natural 9...Nc6? 10.Nxc6 White gets the piece back, because 10...bxc6?? 11.Bg6+ takes the queen.
- 8.c3 Nc6 9.Bd3 cxd4 10.cxd4. Leave the pawn alone and play 10...Bg4, which is fine now that the knight on c6 covers e5. On 11.Qb3+ block with the bishop, 11...Be6, because the usual 11...e6? 12.Qxb7+ Be7 13.Qxc6 gives the piece back. After 10...Nxd4? 11.Nxd4 White gets the piece back too, because 11...Qxd4?? 12.Bg6+ takes the queen.
- 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.Ne5+ Kg8 10.Bg6. The bishop gets there anyway, and now 10...Qa5+ wins the knight on e5.
1 2 7 h f d c 8 a How to remember it
This article covers the first moves. Real games go on from there, and the extra knight doesn't win by itself. The king still has to reach a safe square, the rook on h8 has to wake up, and White will try everything.
That's why we built a separate refutation course. It has White's most common tries and your answer to each. Study first, then Train, and the lines end up in your hands.
Refuting the Alien Gambit →The bottom line
Five moves, and you're ready for it.
Take the knight. Play 7...c5. Answer 8.Bc4+ with 8...e6 and 8.Ne5+ with 8...Kg8. If you see 8.d5, remember 8...Kg8, and the pawn can wait.
And if you'd rather skip most of this, play 5...c5.
Playing 4...Bf5 instead? The younger sibling has its own guide, How to Beat the Martian Gambit. And the Alien Gambit's traps are in the trap catalogue.