http://wordy-english.blogspot.com/2012/03/etymology-of-gambit.html Etymology of Gambit.

A gambit (from ancient Italian gambetto, meaning tripping) is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. A gambit used by Black may also be called a gambit, but is sometimes called a countergambit. The word gambit was originally applied to chess openings in 1561 by Spanish priest Ry Lpez de Segura, from an Italian expression dare il gambetto (to put a leg forward in order to trip someone). Lopez studied this maneuver, and so the Italian word gained the Spanish form gambito that led to French gambit, which has influenced the English spelling of the word. The broader sense of opening move meant to gain advantage was first recorded in English in 1855.