Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Sicilian Defense › Smith-Morra Gambit › Sicilian Defense: Halasz Gambit
B21

Sicilian Defense: Halasz Gambit

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Overview

Sicilian Defense: Halasz Gambit belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO B21, Semi-Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

Play reaches this position via 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. f4, after 5 plies of opening development.

The line refines Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.

Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.

ECO code
B21
Group
Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies
5
Parent
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

153,930 games · White 48.0% / Draw 3.2% / Black 48.7%

MovesGamesW / D / B
Nc693,920
d514,927
e613,031
d612,696
e55,966
g65,855
Nf63,104
a61,723

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:07:30

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