It's the playing unit that's most often sacrificed in a gambit
If you normally play the French or Caro-Kann against 1.e4, you can .... 
it's the way I think) in maintaining Pawn center which most often... [DOC] [TLE] Gambit - Wikipedia [PAR] A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, more often White, sacrifices 
material, usually a ... For gambits that are less sound, the accepting player is 
more likely to try to hold on to his extra material.