How to Play the Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit 3...Nc6

In the von der Lasa Gambit, you've sacrificed a pawn to get rapid development and attacking chances against Black's king. With 3.Bc4 your bishop eyes the f7 square, and 4.Nf3 brings another piece into the game while preparing to recapture the pawn. The engine says the position is completely balanced, but in practice Black often struggles to handle your initiative. Your main goal is to maintain the pressure — keep developing, control the centre, and look for ways to exploit Black's natural but often inaccurate replies. The statistics back this up: White scores well against almost every Black response.

Stockfish's top choice for Black is 4...Nf6, the most principled reply. This move challenges your centre and develops with a threat. The suggested continuation runs: 4...Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5. After 5.e5, you gain space and chase the knight; after 5...d5, Black blocks your bishop's diagonal but also gives the knight a retreat. Your 6.Bb5 pins the knight to the king, maintaining pressure. Notice that you don't rush to grab the pawn back on d4 — your development and activity are worth more in this position. Let your opponent worry about the extra pawn while you focus on your initiative.

Black's most common move is 4...Bc5, played over 2 million times, and you score an excellent 57.4% against it. The bishops stare at each other across the f2-f7 diagonal, and you can continue developing with moves like 0-0 or c3, ready to push d4 again. The second most popular answer is 4...Nf6 (the engine's choice), where you score 54.1% — still comfortably above average. Then comes 4...h6, played 1.78 million times, where your winning percentage jumps to 56.8%. Even the less common replies like 4...d6, 4...Bb4+, and 4...Be7 all yield White winning percentages between 50.9% and 54.8%. In every single line, you score better than Black — a remarkable statistic that proves the practical strength of your position.

The engine identifies three Black moves as clear inaccuracies. 4...h6 loses about 0.7 pawns of evaluation compared to the best move 4...Nf6. Black wastes a tempo on a prophylactic move that does nothing to help development or control the centre. 4...d6 and 4...Be7 each lose about 0.5 pawns. Both are passive — Black plays a quiet developing or set-up move while you get to build your attack unimpeded. If your opponent plays any of these, you've already gained an edge. In the drill, try punishing these inaccuracies by continuing with natural attacking chess: develop your pieces, castle quickly, and look for opportunities to open lines against Black's king.