King's Gambit

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

The King's Gambit

The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins:

1. e4 e5

2. f4

White offers a pawn to divert the Black e-pawn and build a stronger center with d2-d4. Theory has shown that in order for Black to maintain the one pawn advantage, moves must be made that seriously weaken the position of the Black pieces. The King's Gambit is now rarely seen at the master level. Black can obtain a reasonable position by relinquishing the extra pawn at a later time and consolidating defensively.

1 Variations
- 1.1 King's Gambit Declined
- 1.2 King's Gambit Accepted
2 Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
3 External links

[edit] Variations

Black must decide whether or not to accept the gambit. Since White cannot easily regain the pawn if Black accepts, the King's Gambit Accepted is the most common. There are several variations.

[edit] King's Gambit Declined

A common way to decline the gambit is with 2. ..Bc5, the "classical" KGD (King's Gambit Declined). The bishop prevents white from castling and is such a nuisance that white often expends two tempi to get rid of it, moving the queen's knight to c3 and then to a4 only to exchange it on c5, whereupon he may castle without worry. It also contains an opening trap; if White continues with 3.fxe5?? Black continues as such: 3...Qh4+, in which either the rook is lost (4.g3 Qxe4+, forking the rook and king) or White is mated (4.Ke2 Qxe4#). The opening is generally considered to give white too much space in the center after continuations like 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 or 5.fxe5, and so is no longer played frequently despite being very popular in the 19th century.

Other declined options are possible though unusual, such as the sharp countergambit 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 f5, advocated by the late Tony Miles; 2...d6, when after 3.Nf3, best is 3...exf4 transposing to the Fischer Defense (though 2...d6 invites white to play 3.d4 instead); and 2...Nf6 3.fxe5 Nxe4 4.Nf3 Ng5! 4.d4 Nxf3+ 5.Qxf3 Qh4+ 6.Qf2 Qxf2+ 7.Kxf2 with a small endgame advantage, as in a game between Bobby Fischer and Robert Wade. The greedy 2...Qf6, intending 3...Qxf4, is known but very dubious.

Black can go further and play 2...d5 (intending 3.exd5 e4!?, cramping White's position), the aggressive Falkbeer Countergambit, where Black disdains the pawn and instead makes an all-out attempt to take advantage of white's kingside weakness. A more modern interpretation of the Falkbeer is 2...d5 3 exd5 c6!?, as advocated by Aron Nimzowitsch. The Falkbeer is generally considered to slightly favor White, however.

[edit] King's Gambit Accepted

The King's Knight Gambit

As stated above, Black best accepts with 2... exf4. White then has two main continuations: 3.Nf3, the King's Knight Gambit is the most common as it develops the knight and blocks 3... Qh4+, and 3.Bc4, the Bishop's Gambit, where White's development will rapidly increase after 3... Qh4+!? 4. Kf1 followed by 5. Nf3, driving the queen away and gaining a tempo, however, most modern players will not bring out the queen. Other third moves such as the provocative 3.Nc3 (the Mason Gambit, inviting 3...Qh4+ 4.Ke2), 3.Qf3 (the Breyer Gambit, with the idea of ..Qh4+ 4.g3 fxg3 5.hxg3), and even 3.Qe2 and 3.Ne2, are rarely seen.

The Classical Variation usually leads to either the relatively positional Kieseritzky Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 (forced) 5.Ne5, which has many continuations, or the extremely sharp Muzio Gambit 4.Bc4!? g4 5.0-0 gxf3 6.Qxf3, where white has gambitted a whole piece but has three pieces all bearing down on black's isolated king's bishop's pawn, his weakest square. Such wild play is rare in modern chess. If Black is unfamiliar with the Muzio it may be wiser for him to play 4. ..Bg7 instead.

After 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ng5 the Allgaier Gambit arises, intending 5...h6 6.Nxf7, a sharp but dubious way to avoid the Kieseritzky Gambit.

The Becker Defense 3...h6 has the idea of creating a pawn chain on h6, g5, f4 to defend the f4 pawn while avoiding the Kieseritzky Gambit.

The Cunningham Defense 3...Be7 is black's most aggressive option; it can permanently prevent white from castling after 4.Bc4 Bh4+ 5.Kf1 (else the wild Bertin Gambit, or Three Pawns' Gambit 5.g3 fxg3 6.0-0 gxh2+ 7.Kh1.) However, nowadays it is more common for black to simply play 4. ..Nf6 5.e5 Ng4, the Modern Cunningham.

The Schallopp Defense 3...Nf6 (intending 4.e5 Nh5, holding onto the pawn) is considered somewhat inferior and is rarely played today.

The odd 3...Qe7 (intending 4.Nc3 d5!) is an interesting surprise weapon, but doubtful if White knows what he's doing.

The Bishop's Gambit

The Abbazia Defense (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5) has much the same idea as the Falkbeer Counter-Gambit, and can in fact be reached by transposition from it, e.g. 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4. Black's forward pawn is less well placed on f4 than on e4, but material is even.

The extremely popular Fischer Defense (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 planning h6 and g5 but only rarely Bg4, a natural-looking but often weak move that beginners play too early) is complicated and subtle. After Bobby Fischer lost a 1959 game at Mar del Plata to Boris Spassky, in which the Kieseritzky Gambit (above) was played, he left in tears and promptly went to work at devising a new King's Gambit defense. In a 1962 article titled "A Bust to the King's Gambit" he put forth this idea and claimed that it refuted the King's Gambit, which was clearly not the case. The article concluded with the famously arrogant line, "Of course white can always play differently in which case he merely loses differently." Nonetheless, the article was possibly the most influential ever written about an opening, and ever since the King's Gambit has been rare in Grandmaster play, though a few players such as Joseph Gallagher still use it.