King's Gambit

The idea

After 1.e4 e5 2.f4, White offers a pawn to pull Black's e-pawn away from the center. If Black takes, 2...exf4, White wants d4, Bc4, a quick castle and the f-file opened for the rook. Black often tries to keep the extra pawn with ...g5, which leads to the Kieseritzky and other sharp gambits, or gives it back for quick development with ...d5 or ...Nf6.

Black can also decline. 2...Bc5 stops White from castling quickly by aiming at g1. The Falkbeer Countergambit, 2...d5, hits back in the center at once. Each choice leads to a very different game.

Bold and risky. The King's Gambit weakens White's own king and gives up material for time and open lines. It was the main battleground of nineteenth-century chess, when attack was everything, and many brilliant games come from it.

Attacking players who want sharp games and do not mind risk. It is great fun in fast games, where defending is hard.

Watch the diagonal from h4 to e1. After f4 has moved, ...Qh4+ can be a nasty check, so know where your king will go.

The main line, move by move

1. 1.e4 · White claims the center with a pawn and opens the way for the queen and the bishop on f1. It is the most direct way to start a game.
2. 1...e5 · Black answers in kind: an equal share of the center, and the same open lines for the queen and the king's bishop. Both sides now want to develop fast.
3. 2.f4 · The King's Gambit: White offers a pawn to pull Black's e-pawn away from the center, planning d4 and an open f-file that points at f7. The cost is that White's king is more open, since the f-pawn no longer shields it.
4. 2...exf4 · Black takes the pawn. With the f-pawn gone, the diagonal from h4 to White's king on e1 is open, and Black threatens the check ...Qh4+; Black may also try to keep the pawn with ...g5.
5. 3.Nf3 · The knight covers h4, so the queen check is off for now, and White gets ready for d4 and castling. White wants to win the pawn back or open the f-file against f7.
6. 3...h6 · The Becker Defense: Black prepares ...g5 to keep the extra pawn on f4. With the h-pawn on h6 backing up g5, White's later h4 does not break the pawns apart, and White's knight is kept out of g5.

Next moves in book

• 2...Nc6 · King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense
• 2...d5 · King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit
• 2...Qf6 · King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation
• 2...Qh4+ · King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense
• 2...exf4 · King's Gambit Accepted
• 2...f5 · King's Gambit Declined: Panteldakis Countergambit
• 2...f6 · King's Gambit Declined: Soller-Zilbermints Gambit
• 2...Bc5 · King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation
• 2...g5 · King's Gambit Declined: Zilbermints Double Countergambit
• 2...Nf6 · King's Gambit Declined: Petrov's Defense

Related openings

• Ruy Lopez C60–C99 · 200 named lines
• Italian Game C50–C59 · 156 named lines
• Vienna Game C25–C29 · 55 named lines
• Scotch Game C44–C45 · 48 named lines