Budapest Gambit: The Dynamic Weapon against 1.d4
In 1918, at Berlin, Milan Vidmar reached for an opening that barely anyone took seriously. It was a pawn sacrifice first tried by the Hungarian master Maróczy in a casual game back in 1896, and Vidmar used it to defeat Akiba Rubinstein — one of the finest technicians the game has ever produced.
That single result pulled the Budapest Gambit out of obscurity and sparked a wave of popularity through the early 1920s. It has been a rare guest at the top ever since.
But the reason Vidmar's idea worked has never gone away. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5, Black hands over a pawn and receives, in return, rapid development and pieces that come to life at once.
That trade of material for initiative is exactly what drew GM Mahdi Gholami Orimi to the opening. In his introduction he admits that gambit lines have always appealed to him, and that when he went looking for the most dynamic reply to 1.d4, his attention kept returning to this one.
It is a fitting first course for the platform. Gholami is a young Iranian grandmaster (born 2002, rated 2549) who earned the GM title in 2024 and has proven himself in international open tournaments — first place at the Spilimbergo Masters 2024, victory at Sunway Sitges 2025, a shared first at the Annemasse Masters 2025, and team gold at the World University Championship.
It is the kind of practical, fighting résumé that suits a repertoire built to create problems rather than avoid them.
What the course delivers
Instead of a few surprise ideas to spring on an opponent, the course gives a complete, ordered treatment of each of White's serious replies.
Gholami Orimi is candid about where the real fight lies. He singles out 4.e3 as White's most challenging try — the line where White returns the pawn to expand in the centre and on the kingside — and he meets the sharpest White setups head-on, such as the immediate 7.Qg4 or the dangerous 6.Nc3 against the Bf4 systems.
Throughout, the emphasis is on why Black's activity holds up. The recurring message is that Black gets an active position, not merely a playable one.
Course Features
- 10 chapters
- 20 test positions
- Memory Booster
- To Go version of every chapter
- Video instruction
- Multilingual PGN (English, German, French, Spanish)
Map of variations
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5
- 3.Nc3 and other rare third moves → Chapter 1
- 3.dxe5 Ng4
- 4.Qd5 and rare options → Chapter 2
- 4.Nf3 (White keeps the extra pawn) → Chapter 3
- 4.e4 Nxe5
- 5.Nc3 and sidelines → Chapter 4
- 5.f4 Nec6 6.Be3 and rare options → Chapter 5
- 5.f4 Nec6 6.Nc3 Bc5 7.Qg4 → Chapter 6
- 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4+
- 6.Nbd2 and rare moves → Chapter 7
- 6.Nc3 (the main and most testing try) → Chapter 8
- 4.e3 (the most challenging move) Nxe5
- 5.Nc3 and rare moves → Chapter 9
- 5.f4 (White claims space) → Chapter 10
A related idea
Players who enjoy meeting a mainstream first move with a sound but offbeat system will find a natural companion in The Fighting Lowenthal Sicilian.
It is a different opening — this time a rare weapon for Black in the Sicilian against 1.e4 — but in the same spirit of steering the opponent onto ground they have studied far less.
Start playing it
The Budapest has always rewarded the player who trusts activity over material. This course gives you the full, worked-out version of that bet: every White attempt answered, every critical position explained.
Add it to your repertoire and put Vidmar's old surprise back to work.