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Train this openingAbout this opening
The gambit is a loan, not a sacrifice. If you take, you cannot hold the pawn, because e3 and Bxc4 win it straight back while White builds toward e4. dxc4 is the most played reply here, and it is perfectly respectable, but look at the score before you copy it: handing over the center costs more than the pawn is worth at club level. e6 is the Orthodox, solid but it locks in the light-squared bishop, which is Black's long-term problem in this whole opening. c6 is the Slav and keeps that bishop's diagonal open, which is why many players prefer it.
Plans
- Take with dxc4, then give the pawn back for development.
- Play e6 for a solid game and free the bishop later.
- Play c6 to hold the center and keep the diagonal open.
- Aim for c5 or e5 to break White's center.
Where the pieces belong
- Pawn: c6, holding d5 without blocking the bishop
- Bishop: f5 or g4, outside the chain before you play e6
- Knight: f6, covering d5 and e4
- Pawn: c5, the break that frees the position
- King: castled short by move nine
The whole question is e4. If White gets it in you are worse, and if you stop it you are fine. Everything else, the extra pawn included, is secondary to that.