indeed

dxe5 is a sad refutement though =(

So Morphy had his off days. Thomas Barnes is one of those lesser-known British masters whose main claim to fame is a number of wins against Morphy, and this dubious opening, his name-sake, the Barnes Defense. But I don't think "refutement" is a real word. Better is 'refutation'...... Anyway, 1.e4 f6 2.d4 e5 3.dxe5 may not be such a slam-dunk for white. A guy I play tries this every now and then in blitz games. He gets pretty good games with this stuff, but keep in mind I have no idea what I'm doing. The line goes like this:

White should probably wait on Nf3 to keep the queen's diagonal open.

Bad.

Black does not have to play 3...fxe.

Exactly. Open lines + Rapid development = Cone Gambit!

Of course. But that's the point: Once black's knight covers e5, the queen checks on h5 don't work. If white plays some innocuous move, like 4.Nc3, then simply fxe5. Or even more ridiculous: