Gambit

The general name for openings in which one side (usually White) sacrifices material (usually a pawn) in the interest of faster development or to gain an advantage in the center. The name "gambit" comes from the Italian "dare il gambetto" (to trip someone up) and arose during the heyday of the Italian school of chess.

If the sacrifice is accepted, the result is an accepted gambit (in the names of openings, the word "accepted" is usually dropped); if it is declined, the result is a declined gambit; and if, instead of accepting the sacrifice, the other side offers a sacrifice of its own, the result is a countergambit.

Gambits were especially widespread in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today gambits (apart from the Queen's Gambit, which is not a true gambit) are rarely played, since reliable methods of defense have been found against them. Where gambit play once aimed at a quick attack on the king, modern grandmasters and masters often treat gambits in a purely positional spirit.