Stafford Gambit Accepted - Qe2 - What to do? Today I have been playing some new lines I haven't tried before. I am quite fond of the Petrov (Russian) Defense and I found some interesting lines particularly the Stafford Gambit seemed to peak my interest.
I had 2 games today with this line and in both instances white did 6. Qe2. This I found interesting as the expected continuation in this position is for move 6 for white is d4. I found that countering with Bc5 seemed to work ok but I was curious as to some thoughts about what the best move following Qe2 would be and potential development ideas.
[FEN &quot;&quot;]
[Date &quot;2020.08.24&quot;]
[White &quot;Him&quot;]
[Black &quot;Me&quot;]
[ECO &quot;C42&quot;]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qe2 Bc5 7. Qxe4 *
Rats. I thought I had a 5. Qe2 somewhere... Crap, that colllection of Stafford  games was on the stolen laptop.
...Bf5 was a suggestion earlier, right? Then if d3 kicks you back to c5, and d4 hits you again, you can drop back to e6 without blocking the bishop, or go in for ...Ne4 f3 Qh4+ Qf2 (what a mess) .