I played black against the King's Gambit (KG) for the first time, and--oh the humanity.

I played my own opening (I don't understand the plan of standard openings).  My plan was to attack white's king with my pawns and 0-0-0 out of trouble.

Orienteering without a compass.

Need help.  I would greatly appreciate any comments on the following or anything else that comes to mind:

1. What are the strategies for white/black in the KG?
2. KG openings for black, and how the openings defend/attack.
3. The game annotates my thoughts behind my moves.  Thoughts?  (You may laugh at my game.) :)

Vital stats:  both players rated 1850-1950.  My KG rating, 2.

Won't you please help?

Many thanks!
~Lisa

My understanding behind the kings gambit is like any gambit is to get a jump on development.  Black in the kings gambit from what i heard can get through it if they develop quickly.

A few questions...

on move 4 why did you do d6 and not d5?(Makes white waste a move and evens up material + develops for black) and then your next move doesnt help you much with Nc6... Main line is to do g4 on move 4 for black

Analysis of your game below...

next time play 2...d5 never take the pawn on f4.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-beat-your-opponent-in-20-moves-or-less-the-kings-gambit-part-two

 

Here is what a GM has to say about the Kings Gambit... might help

Many thanks for the responses!

Yes, KG does seem like a blitz for development, as well as an f7 heart attack.

on move 4 why did you do d6 and not d5?(Makes white waste a move and evens up material + develops for black) and then your next move doesnt help you much with Nc6...

I read 4. ...d5 somewhere, but that's where the line ended.  No explanation, and I couldn't figure out the strategy behind it.  Is the next move 5. ...Nf6    ?

Nc6 was supposed to free up room for 0-0-0......but I'm gathering there's not enough time to develop 0-0-0. C'est la vie.

Main line is to do g4 on move 4 for black

Many thanks for showing the line and the explanation behind it!  Very useful.

 

next time play 2...d5 never take the pawn on f4.

Thanks.  Could you or someone else explain further?

taking the pawn on f4 is likely the best move, but requires a lot of theory to memorize.  If you don't want to memorize much theory, I suggest you play the Falkbeer Countergambit or the KGD

Cool!  Thanks, I'll look 'em up!

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 Actually the accepted lines of the falkbeer are probably almost as sharp and theoretical as the main lines of the KGA. The classical KGD lines with 2...Bc5 are a much better practical try in my opinion and I highly recommend this variation to anyone who isn't ready for exf4.

Oh, and another good try might be the modern variation - 2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5 where black gives back the pawn for some healthy development and a share of the center.

On move 4 you had some better choices like the immediate ...g4 or ...Bg7. But after ...g4 Ne5 the queen check is double edged since the queen could also get exposed, but there is attacking potential against white's king. With ...Bg7 and moves like ...h6 and trying to castle kingside (the queenside does look safe for the king; I think the reason why it's not done much is because it's too hard to organize while the king is still in the center, leaving f7 completely vulnerable) quickly. It's a pretty decent way to play, where you play to eventually counterattack the white pawn center and sometimes your f4 pawn gives you chances of a kingside attack as well. I doubt ...Nc6 was good. You had to concentrate on developing your kingside and not to commit the knight, because f7 got attacked. I am not totally sure on this, but perhaps 5 0-0 was not the best (although I bet he was afraid of that queen check but the king is safe enough on f1) because it looks like a good defensive idea would be ...Be6, trading off light squared bishops. After Bxe6 fxe6 black's pawns are undoubled and I think white would have problems taking advantage of the f7 pawn going to e6.

I think you shouldn't have played ...g4 once he castled because that just made f4 and thus the whole f file weak. And yeah ...f5 probably wasn't very good... but the position was already bad. It's a sharp opening, so your mistakes get punished. The first time I played against the king's gambit I got destroyed too.

Lisa,

I think your game looked pretty solid up until when white retreated his knight, a move that doesn't appeal to me. (If I had been white, I would have simply played 7. Bxf4, letting black waste time capturing the knight. Then the ghosts and shadows that had you spooked would have been more tangible.)  Since 7. Ne1 doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the KGA, your response to it was, I believe, your downfall. 7...f5 was a terribly weakening move. You might could have let the pawn go and simply developed with something like Bg7, threatening the d-pawn or even Nf6.

lol  I get the feeling everyone gets destroyed the first time.  I wonder which GM introduced KG the first time, and which GM walked away in tears.  :) 

Thanks for the analysis!

playing d5 early to give the pawn back and get a bit of momentum back can be helpful.  your move 4 was d6, d5 would have been better.  that being said your oppenent didn't play book moves--at least the book moves i now, past 3.  at move 4 the "book" says he should have played h4.  i think this game had more to do with your inexperience against the gambit than your opponent's prowess.  maybe not though.  maybe he's onto something.

yes, your tunnel vision is what did you in...  instead of f5, h5.  but you're already giving him a lot by then.  no worries though.  it's a tricky opening to face.

clearly my inexperience.  :) 

losing in 10 =  lol 

MCO10 KGA clmns 1 through 6 specificly clmns 4,5,6.  Whites 4.Bc4 can be answered by Bg7 (Philidor) or g4 (Muzio).  After 4.Bc4, Bg7 White can play either 5.h4 (cont. Philidor) or O-O (Hanstein).  Accepting the gambit allows white to build a strong center and gives white the half open f file to build threats against the king.  in addition you found how dangerous the d1-h5 diagonal can be (in some variations black utilizes the b8-h4 diagonal. 

If you accept the gambit you accept allowing white a presence in the center.  If you check through the opening (use the game explorer on this site) you will see that the black king is kept in the center for quite some time.

Here is the main line Muzio:

1.e4,e5 2.f4,exf4 3.Nf3,g5 4.Bc4,g4 5.O-O,gxf3 6.Qxf3,Qf6 7.e5,Qxe5 8.d3,Bh6 9.Nc3,Ne7 10.Bd2,Nbc6 11.Rae1,Qf5 12.Nd5,Kd8 13.Qe2,Qe6 14.Qf2,Qf5 draw.  On 13....b5 or 13...Ng6 White should hold the balance.

So Black is up a piece and a pawn but gets 1/2 point.  At my level of play, as black, I would look at the 13...b5/Ng6 deviations.

As others have suggester you could decline the gambit or go for the Falkbeer Counter Gambit. 1.e4,e5 2.f4,d5.

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The KG was around waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before there were GMs

cool.  many thanks.

ask jedimaster_yoda.  he swears that black should win against the King's Gambit every time.  he's a bit of a jerk though so tread lightly.  haha

Yes, everyone loses to the KG. A rare alternative to the usual replies is the Nimzowitsch Countergambit which continues 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 c6. It's a rare continuation that isn't seen very often and is dangerous.

I've got to sign off, but I hope I this thread is helping others too.  Will be back later.

If you got something, keep it coming!

 

:)

~ Lisa