How to Beat the Martian Gambit
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng5 Bg6 6.N1f3 h6 7.Ne6 fxe6 8.Ne5 Bf5!
Take the knight, answer 8.Ne5 by moving the bishop to f5, and learn one reply to each of White's four tries. That's the refutation.
A warning first. This gambit is nastier than the Alien. After the sacrifice White scores 63%, and even after the best move, 8...Bf5, White still gets 60%, although the engine gives Black one and a half to two pawns. The games are lost later, in the moves that follow, so those moves are what you need to know.
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d b 8 a The position after 8...Bf5. Try White's options 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 it works out this way is in our article on the Martian Gambit. Here's only what you need at the board.
You can skip the gambit altogether
The simplest way is 5...e6 instead of 5...Bg6. The pawn takes the e6 square, so the Martian sacrifice is off. White scores 51.9%, against 55.7% after 5...Bg6, and the engine prefers 5...e6 too (−0.3 against +0.3). That's what our Caro-Kann course for Black plays.
White can still give a knight on f7, and then Black is clearly better. After 6.N1f3 play 6...h6, which is harmless here because e6 is taken. Don't play 6...Nf6?, because 7.Ne5 hits f7 twice and White is ahead.
If the bishop is already on g6, 6...Nd7 helps. The engine likes it less than 6...h6, but nobody chases the knight and White has no reason to sacrifice it. White scores 52.8% instead of 58.6%.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 1 2 7 h g f e d 8 a Almost half of players still play 6...h6, a move that looks completely harmless. The rest of this article is about that case.
Step 1. Take the knight
7.Ne6 fxe6. 91% of players do. The engine counts the other moves as mistakes.
Step 2. 8.Ne5: where the bishop goes
The bishop on g6 is under attack. Black has a choice here, and most players don't pick the engine's move.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a - 8...Bf762%
- 8...Bh717%
- 8...Bf513%
| Move | Played | White's score | Engine (cloud / SF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8...Bf7 | 62% | 62% | −0.7 / −0.7 |
| 8...Bh7 | 17% | 65% | −1.1 / −1.0 |
| 8...Bf5 | 13% | 60% | −1.5 / −1.9 |
Strong players choose 8...Bf7 most of all, three times out of four at 2000+. It guards e6, but after Bc4 the bishop is tied to that pawn, and the knight on e5 can take the bishop at any moment. More than half of Black's edge is gone.
Our article on the gambit calls 8...Bh7 the other sane move, and the engine agrees. The games are less kind. The nastiest answer to it is 9.Bd3, and White scores 80% in 273 games.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a Step 3. White's four tries
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a - 9.g431%
- 9.Bc429%
- 9.Qh5+24%
- 9.Bd313%
| White plays | Your reply | White's score (games) | Engine (cloud / SF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.g4 | 9...Bh7 | 54% (114) | −1.9 / −1.8 |
| 9.Bc4 | 9...h5 | see below (8) | −1.6 / −2.0 |
| 9.Qh5+ | 9...g6 | 56% (186) | −3.2 / −3.4 |
| 9.Bd3 | 9...Nf6 | 54% (40) | −2.2 / −2.4 |
The game counts here are small, and that's the honest limit of the data. Only a few hundred blitz, rapid and classical games reach these positions, so treat the scores as a rough guide.
9.Bc4. The key moment. Half of players reply with the natural 9...Nf6, and White scores 70% in 132 games. The reason is 10.g4! The bishop is attacked, and it's the only piece guarding e6. After 10...Bh7 11.Bxe6 White threatens Bf7 mate, and almost all of Black's edge is gone.
1 2 7 h f e d b 8 a So play 9...h5, a move that simply rules out g4. It's been played only 8 times, and those games prove nothing. The engine is what recommends it, at −1.6 and −2.0, against +0.1 and −0.5 after 9...Nf6. If you'd rather stick to what's been tested in practice, 9...Nd7 will do. White scores 53% in 83 games, but the engine thinks noticeably less of it. After 10.Bxe6 take the knight with 10...Nxe5. Taking the bishop loses at once, 10...Bxe6?? 11.Qh5+ is mate in three.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 9.g4. The bishop goes to h7. The other option, 9...Be4, is played almost as often and gives White 65%.
White's most common move next is 10.Bc4, and now nothing guards e6. Play 10...Qd6. The natural 10...Nf6? 11.Bxe6 is the position from the 9.Bc4 line, with almost all of Black's edge gone. And 10.Qf3 threatens Qf7 mate, so that's the time for 10...Nf6.
9.Qh5+. The only move is 9...g6. You can't block with the bishop, 9...Bg6 lost all 11 games. In four games out of five White goes on with 10.Nxg6, and here Black has a pretty answer.
10...Nf6! The queen is attacked. White would love to move the knight away with a discovered check, but 11.Nxh8+ Nxh5 simply takes the queen. So the queen has to move, and after 11.Qe2 Bxg6 Black is far ahead.
1 2 7 h f e d b 8 a If White plays 10.Be2 instead, the queen on h5 is bait. 10...gxh5?? 11.Bxh5+ Bg6 12.Bxg6 is mate. Leave it alone and play 10...Nf6.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 9.Bd3. Calm development with 9...Nf6. The engine has 9...Qxd4 slightly ahead, and that works too. Just don't trade. 9...Bxd3?? 10.Qxd3 threatens Qg6 mate, and even the best defence loses the rook on h8. The 19 games agree, White scores 79%. It's the same after 9.g4 Bh7 10.Bd3, where 10...Nf6 is the move and the trade loses.
After 9...Nf6 10.g4 leave the pawn alone, because 10...Bxg4?? 11.Bg6 is mate. Play 10...Bh7. That's also where 9.g4 Bh7 10.Bd3 Nf6 leads, so play 10...Nf6 there too. Don't grab d4 first, because with the bishop off f5, 10...Qxd4?? 11.Bg6+ uncovers the queen on d1. If 11.Bxh7 Rxh7 12.Qd3, the threat is Qg6 mate again, so answer 12...Qd5.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 1 2 7 h g f e b 8 a 1 2 7 h f e d b 8 a If White turned off earlier
7.Nxf7 comes up in 17% of games after 6...h6. It's the second sacrifice, and it has a trap of its own. Take with the bishop, 7...Bxf7. Taking with the king walks into the 8.Ne5+ fork, and the bishop on g6 falls. White scores 87% after 7...Kxf7.
1 2 7 h g f d b 8 a 7.Nh3 comes up in a third of games. There's no gambit, White has just retreated, and the position is about equal. Carry on as usual with 7...Nf6 or 7...e6.
8.Bc4 instead of 8.Ne5 comes up in 15% of games after 7...fxe6. Play 8...Bf5 again, and after 9.Ne5 you're in the familiar position with 9...h5. Only 52 games have gone this way, so the recommendation is the engine's (−1.5 / −2.1).
8.Bd3 is rare, 4%, and it's the nastiest line. After 8...Bxd3 White scores 70% in 152 games, and after 9.Qxd3 there's only one good move. 9...Qa5+ and then ...Qf5 brings the queen across the fifth rank to cover g6. That route is open because the knight isn't on e5 yet. Nothing else holds, and 9...Nd7?? allows 10.Qg6 mate.
1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 1 2 7 h g f e d b 8 a 1 2 5 7 h g f e b 8 a How to remember it
Our earlier article had it right. The refutation is one move, and then you have to survive the next twenty. The king is still in the centre, you have to find time to castle, and White will try everything.
That's why we built a separate refutation course. It has your answers to White's most common tries. Study first, then Train.
Refuting the Martian Gambit →The bottom line
Take on e6. On 8.Ne5 move the bishop to f5, and forget about f7. On 9.Bc4 play 9...h5, on 9.Qh5+ play 9...g6, and after 10.Nxg6 remember 10...Nf6.
On 7.Nxf7, take with the bishop.
And if you'd rather remember less, play 5...e6.
Playing 4...Nf6 instead? The older sibling has its own guide, How to Beat the Alien Gambit. And the Martian Gambit's traps are in the trap catalogue.