I have always found it interesting that Fischer seemed to prefer the kings bishop gambit when playing white while Spassky liked the kings knights gambit more. Fischer however didnt play it as much as Spassky and not against elite players as Spassky did.
King's Gambit: Books & Opinion
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The problem I found when playing the King's Gambit is that if your opponent is not from the nut house
and doesn't want to keep the pawn, then white only gains a slight advantage in a positional game. Again some people are quite happy with this, but this is generaly not the romatic spirit for which most people run to the KG.
tonydal wrote:
Hm...I only started getting good play against the thing when I joined the nut house and started hanging onto the pawn. :)
I believe the nuthouse approach 3... g5 is the most critical test of the kings gambit and it does well for black in tourney praxis. When I am not in the nuthouse mood I tend to play the modern, the falkbeer counter gambit or the 2...Bc5 declined lines.
verdantlife wrote:
Someone asked about the KG, but the thread got off-track. Here is a fresh opinion.
There are two books I would recommend:
The Fascinating King's Gambit by Johansson (3. Bc4 - Bishop's Gambit). Winning With the King's Gambit by Gallagher (3. Nf3 - King Knight's Gambit). This book can be hard to find - it's $65 on Amazon, which is ridiculous. You can easily find a PDF online. It pains me to say that, but at this point the publisher isn't printing it or making any money, so spending $65 isn't helping anyoneNaturally, both cover the declined lines.
Other books:
The King's Gambit for the Creative Aggressor is Johansson's earlier book, and he'll be the first to tell you that The Fascinating King's Gambit replaces it. Jan Pinski is publishing a book (ISBN 9197600490) that should be out any day from Quality Press. No idea which major line it covers. There are other books: Korchnoi wrote one, and Soltis did a two-volume set. There are probably a half-dozen more books I found on Amazon, but they're all long out of print and expensive.My advice would be to buy The Fascinating King's Gambit and find Winning With the King's Gambit as a pdf online or used (if you can). Gallagher will tell you to play the Knight's and Johansson will tell you to play the Bishop's, and each does not cover the alternate, so if you'd really sold on one variation, you only need to buy one book.
If you are looking for a book to prepare against the KG as BLACK, then I'd get Gallagher's, as you're far more likely to see the KKG. However, both books are written from a WHITE point of view, so you'll probably do just as well with MCO.
The majority of opinion is on the King's Knight Gambit, and the majority of those hoary old 19th century games all use the KKG. Johansson's book is probably the only major work on the Bishop's. Johansson rightly points out that the Bishop's Gambit variation is much fresher ground. I go back and forth.
Now, on the question of the KG in general. True, it is no longer played in top-flight chess and it may be unsound. But for players at expert and below, your game is not going to be decided because you got into an =+ instead of a += position! Your game will be decided by tactics in the middlegame, and KG is as good a way to get there as anything else.
Learn the KG and enjoy all those wonderful games from days gone by. It's a fun opening to know and enjoy. Some day when you get sick of 2. Nf3, try pushing that f-pawn a couple squares ;-)
verdantlife wrote:
Someone asked about the KG, but the thread got off-track. Here is a fresh opinion.
There are two books I would recommend:
The Fascinating King's Gambit by Johansson (3. Bc4 - Bishop's Gambit). Winning With the King's Gambit by Gallagher (3. Nf3 - King Knight's Gambit). This book can be hard to find - it's $65 on Amazon, which is ridiculous. You can easily find a PDF online. It pains me to say that, but at this point the publisher isn't printing it or making any money, so spending $65 isn't helping anyone
Both books are self published http://hem.passagen.se/tjmisha/begins.html
Naturally, both cover the declined lines.
Other books:
The King's Gambit for the Creative Aggressor is Johansson's earlier book, and he'll be the first to tell you that The Fascinating King's Gambit replaces it. Jan Pinski is publishing a book (ISBN 9197600490) that should be out any day from Quality Press. No idea which major line it covers. There are other books: Korchnoi wrote one, and Soltis did a two-volume set. There are probably a half-dozen more books I found on Amazon, but they're all long out of print and expensive.My advice would be to buy The Fascinating King's Gambit and find Winning With the King's Gambit as a pdf online or used (if you can). Gallagher will tell you to play the Knight's and Johansson will tell you to play the Bishop's, and each does not cover the alternate, so if you'd really sold on one variation, you only need to buy one book.
I play the King's gambit on ICCF both in fixed openings and normal tournaments. I cannot talk too much as I have games in progress. There is a mass of theory on the Kieseritzy Gambit. Dig out Stefan Buckers articles in yje archives of Chess Cafe.
If you are looking for a book to prepare against the KG as BLACK, then I'd get Gallagher's, as you're far more likely to see the KKG. However, both books are written from a WHITE point of view, so you'll probably do just as well with MCO.
The majority of opinion is on the King's Knight Gambit, and the majority of those hoary old 19th century games all use the KKG. Johansson's book is probably the only major work on the Bishop's. Johansson rightly points out that the Bishop's Gambit variation is much fresher ground. I go back and forth.
Now, on the question of the KG in general. True, it is no longer played in top-flight chess and it may be unsound. But for players at expert and below, your game is not going to be decided because you got into an =+ instead of a += position! Your game will be decided by tactics in the middlegame, and KG is as good a way to get there as anything else.
Learn the KG and enjoy all those wonderful games from days gone by. It's a fun opening to know and enjoy. Some day when you get sick of 2. Nf3, try pushing that f-pawn a couple squares ;-)
Someone asked about the KG, but the thread got off-track. Here is a fresh opinion.
There are two books I would recommend:
Naturally, both cover the declined lines.
Other books:
My advice would be to buy The Fascinating King's Gambit and find Winning With the King's Gambit as a pdf online or used (if you can). Gallagher will tell you to play the Knight's and Johansson will tell you to play the Bishop's, and each does not cover the alternate, so if you'd really sold on one variation, you only need to buy one book.
If you are looking for a book to prepare against the KG as BLACK, then I'd get Gallagher's, as you're far more likely to see the KKG. However, both books are written from a WHITE point of view, so you'll probably do just as well with MCO.
The majority of opinion is on the King's Knight Gambit, and the majority of those hoary old 19th century games all use the KKG. Johansson's book is probably the only major work on the Bishop's. Johansson rightly points out that the Bishop's Gambit variation is much fresher ground. I go back and forth.
Now, on the question of the KG in general. True, it is no longer played in top-flight chess and it may be unsound. But for players at expert and below, your game is not going to be decided because you got into an =+ instead of a += position! Your game will be decided by tactics in the middlegame, and KG is as good a way to get there as anything else.
Learn the KG and enjoy all those wonderful games from days gone by. It's a fun opening to know and enjoy. Some day when you get sick of 2. Nf3, try pushing that f-pawn a couple squares ;-)