Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit: what should White play?

In the Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit, White's strongest and most principled choice is dxe5. Capturing the offered pawn yields an engine evaluation of +2.15, securing an immediate material plus while questioning Black's central coordination. Across 114,387 recorded games, dxe5 is selected 67.7% of the time (77K recorded) and leads to a 53.6% score for White.

Refuting the Gambit with dxe5

By playing dxe5, White accepts the central sacrifice and forces Black to justify the rapid piece development. Black's standard counterpunch targets the pinned knight on the c3 square, but White maintains tactical resources to seize the initiative. An illustrative continuation demonstrating White's attacking potential runs dxe5 Nxe4 Qg4 d5 Qxg7 Rf8, where White's queen counterattacks Black's kingside and nets valuable material.

Alternatives and Slower Continuations

Other options fail to match the sharpness of the main capture and reduce White's advantage to near equality. Developing with Bg5 is the second most common try, appearing in 11.8% of games (13K recorded) with an evaluation of -0.14 and a 53.2% score; play may follow Bg5 h6 Bxf6 Qxf6 Ne2 exd4. White can also test the bishop immediately via a3, chosen in 8.4% of games (9.6K recorded, +0.07 evaluation, 47.2% score), prompting a3 Bxc3+ bxc3 d5 Bg5 h6.

Defensive Tries: Ne2 and f3

Passive setups generally cede the initiative to Black. The reinforcement Ne2 accounts for 4.4% of games (5.0K recorded, -0.10 evaluation, 51.6% score), with the illustrative continuation Ne2 Nxe4 dxe5 Nc6 Qd3 d5. Finally, the pawn push f3 scores 49.9% across 7.7% of games (8.9K recorded) but carries an evaluation of -0.51, where f3 exd4 Qxd4 Nc6 Qd3 d5 allows Black active central play.