Orthoschnapp Gambit: Crush the French Defense

The Orthoschnapp Gambit starts with 1.e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3 giving up the pawn on e4 in exchange for rapid development with Bc4 and a strong attack on the f7 square.

To go directly to each variation we will cover you can click below:
5…Nh6 2:21
5…Qe7 8:28
5…Qd7 13:04
5…Be6 16:50
5…Bc5 18:37

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104 Comments

  1. At 6:12 you capture the knight with the Rook (Rxh6) rather than the bishop (Bxh6), and then black recaptures (gxh6). I can't figure out why you'd give up the rook rather than the bishop. I plugged the position into an engine and it agrees trading the rook (+6 vs +4 capturing with bishop).

  2. I'm a little late here, but at 6:15, why would you not move Nf6, forking the king and queen?? Seems like the best move by far but he mentions Nc7 instead.

  3. 2:50 you can play d4 and bait your opponent to en passant if you want to make a funi move

  4. Also at 12:07 I had just watched Eric Rosen get this position against a WIM on lichess and he thought he had made a new discovery lol

  5. These are the types of gambits that give chess life!

  6. I'd like to see a detailed explanation on Orthoschnap Gambit declined

  7. Is this guy trollin'? Maybe a French player himself, just teaching noobs how to lose against the French… The line where the king runs to F1 at 10:00 is pretty bad for W (at least from the engines perspective, and I agree, that rook on h1 looking pretty sad).

  8. The Wing Gambit was recommended by Bent Larsen 1,e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4

  9. I'll be here again after 10 years ,if I don't ,please remind me

  10. Παναγιώτης Φρεντζάς says:

    Well… after 4…dxe4 5.Bc4 Qd7 6.d3 Nc6! 7.dxe4 Na5 white is basically worse already, as Black gets the bishop pair for nothing – but feel free to call this junk "your favorite way to attack the French".
    The variation inventor FM Stefan Buecker dismissed it ages ago as nonchallenging.

  11. I keeep loosing again the French in the park guess I’ll
    Try this

  12. 1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3 Qe7 5. Nc3 c6 and nothing to fear for black

  13. That's awesome I've never thought of pushing that second pawn. Ty

  14. I am not sure if this gambit will work against good players , say 1800-1900 FIDE rated (at club level). Unless they goof up so badly, as white I am going to the middle game and end game with a pawn down.

  15. For French defence players , 1e4 e6 2c4 d5 3cxd5 exd5 4Qb3 dxe4 5Bc4 Qe7 6Nc3 Nf6 7d3 Nc6 and black is much better . You can compare the activity of pieces your knight are going to come jumping in the middle of the board next and white will be having trouble coordinating his pieces. You can even play 7exd3 Be3 8 d2+ Kf1 and then castle your king on Qside and attack his uncastled king . Just to verify my knowledge of French sidelines I checked orthoscnopp with the engine and as expected engine gives -1.50.

  16. Before D5 arrival like this prong pawn counter is easy. What do you play after d5 has arrived?

  17. At 6:05 after Bxf2 instead of Rh1, Bg5 and black loses his queen or gets mated by the rook on d8.

  18. Really appreciate this! I played this in a classical tournament game today and won because of the opening! (I had hated playing against French before this!)

  19. 1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. Qb3 (4. e5) (4. exd5) 4… dxe4 5. Bc4 Nh6 (5… Qe7 6. Nc3 Nf6 (6… Nc6 7. Nd5 Qe5 (7… Qd8 8. d3 exd3 9. Nf3) 8. d3 exd3+ 9. Be3) (6… Be6 7. Qxb7 Bxc4 8. Qxa8 Qb4 9. Qxe4+) (6… c6 7. d3 b5 8. Nxb5 cxb5 9. Bd5) 7. d3 exd3+ 8. Be3 Nc6 (8… d2+ 9. Kf1) 9. Nf3) (5… Qd7 6. d3 exd3 (6… Nf6 7. Nc3 exd3 (7… Nc6 8. dxe4) (7… Bd6 8. dxe4) 8. Nf3) (6… Bd6 7. dxe4) 7. Nf3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 (8… Nc6 9. Re1+ Be7 (9… Ne7 10. Ng5) (9… Kd8 10. Ng5) 10. Bxf7+) 9. Ne5) (5… Be6 6. Bxe6 fxe6 7. Qxb7 Nc6 (7… Nd7 8. Qxe4) 8. Qxc6+) (5… Bc5 6. Bxf7+ Kf8 7. Ne2) 6. d3 exd3 (6… Qe7 7. dxe4 Qxe4+ 8. Ne2 Qxg2 9. Rg1 Qxh2 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. Nbc3 Bc5 (11… Be7 12. Rxg7) (11… Nc6 12. Nd5 Bd6 13. Bxd6 cxd6 14. Nc7+) 12. O-O-O Bxf2 13. Rh1 Qg4 14. Rxh6 gxh6 15. Nd5) (6… Bc5 7. Bxh6 gxh6 8. Bxf7+ Kd7 (8… Kf8 9. Nc3) 9. Qe6#) 7. Bxh6 gxh6 8. Bxf7+ Kd7 (8… Ke7 9. Nf3) 9. Qe6#

  20. After playing this gambit I can bravely say that french defence sucks and stockfish's opinion on this gambit dose not matter:)

  21. Good. Now, I just have to remember all of this.

  22. Hate French but now I would like to face it

  23. That was fun. But losing many pawns is risky.

  24. 13:30 mark you snuck in a free move for white. You had black play Nf6 then white 0-0 followed by white Re1.

  25. How can we against when enemy is play e6 and d6???

  26. Thanks man, now i'm just gonna crush French player's moral to play this defence again…

  27. Such a good video, keep up the great work!

  28. Now, what's the best gambit vs the CaroKann? 😀

  29. I almost never study openings as I play for fun. The French defense however is so boring to play against that I had to watch this video. Cheers.

  30. Thank you for this, I so much hated the French defense (and I am 1800 elo, LOL), now I'm def gonna enjoy playing against it

  31. Very nice! but kinda dissapointed that 5…Qf6 is not covered since it's the second most played move

  32. What happens at start if opponent replies with pawn c6?

  33. At 12:05, black has a counterplay: 7…exd3 8.Be3 d2+ 9.Kf1 Nd7 10.Bxd2 Nc5.

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