If there is no existing frame with the name you used for the TARGET attribute, then a new browser window will be opened, and this window will be assigned the name you used. Furthermore, TARGET="_blank" will open a new, unnamed browser window.
In HTML 4, the TARGET attribute value is case-insensitive, so that abc and ABC both refer to the same frame/window, and _top and _TOP both have the same meaning. However, most browsers treat the TARGET attribute value as case-sensitive and do not recognize ABC as being the same as abc, or _TOP as having the special meaning of _top.
Also, some browsers include a security feature that prevents documents from being hijacked by third-party framesets. In these browsers, if a document's link targets a frame defined by a frameset document that is located on a different server than the document itself, then the link opens in a new window instead.