Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Accepted: what should White play?

In the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Accepted (ECO D00), White's primary and most resilient choice is Nxf3, which recaptures the pawn while developing the kingside knight. This move accounts for 57.9% of the 4,752,434 recorded games from this position, yielding an engine evaluation of -0.66 and a 56.1% score for White. Developing with the knight preserves White's central stability better than early queen outings.

The case for Nxf3

Choosing Nxf3 allows White to maintain harmonious development across the minor pieces without exposing the queen to immediate disruption. An illustrative engine continuation demonstrates this approach: Nxf3 g6 Bg5 Bg7 Qd2 O-O. In this line, White prepares queenside castling while aiming to coordinate against Black's kingside fianchetto, retaining compensation despite the material deficit.

The alternative Qxf3

The secondary recapture, Qxf3, appears in 41.3% of recorded games (1.96M recorded) and scores 54.9% for White, though the engine evaluation drops to -1.68. White aims to build rapid pressure toward the f-file and the center, but the queen can become vulnerable to tactics. The engine highlights the illustrative continuation Qxf3 Qxd4 Be3 Qh4+ g3 Qg4, where Black strikes immediately at the undefended d4 pawn.

Dubious alternatives

Other moves severely impair White's position. The pawn capture gxf3 has been tried in 0.6% of games (28K recorded), scoring only 29.7% with an evaluation of -2.00; the main line continues gxf3 Nc6 Bb5 Bd7 Bg5 a6. Developing moves that ignore the f3 pawn fare similarly poorly, such as Bf4 (eval -2.04, 0.2% of games) running into Bf4 fxg2 Bxg2 g6 Qd2 Bg7, and g3 (eval -2.06), which meets g3 f2+ Kxf2 e5 dxe5 Ng4+.