Hello.

I recently finished a game with the black pieces playing the Cunningham Defence.  My opponent was much stronger than me, and I ended up losing.  I think I made the mistake of developing too late.  Would be cool if any of you could analyze some weaknesses that I played.  I heard Gonnosuke is an expert in the King's Gambit, so if you could post that would be great! :)

Thank you everyone. :)

All posts appreciated.

Jeremy

in my point of view your first mistake was at 5. Bh4+......you should better reply with 6.Nf3 Nh4 and recapture, not moving your king. [of cousre it would be better if you had already done a kingside castle]

secondly, 11.h x g 12. R x h8......maybe you didn't mind the bishop (g7), it would be much better (i think) if you have moved your king up (so 12.Kf1-Kf2), so your queen protects your rook and your opponent can't capture your rook.

that's all for now, i hope i helped

sorry for my english I'm from greece....

As black, I would have kept playing and looking for ways to sac my two pieces for white pawns, so that I could simplify down where they would have to mate me with a bishop and knight, which isn't so easy. I think black has good drawing chances.

Thank you for posting everyone. :)

Yes, I should have probably sacrificed a piece to get the pressure off me.

Thanks for the post, SICX. :) 

I tried to find a master game with the move order you played but couldn't find one :/

4...d6    Usual here and in masters game are 4...Bh4+ and 4...Nf6; however, 4...d6 is not really bad, though only a few masters game can be found with this line - but is in total discrepancy with black's last move. 4...Bh4+ is the main reason 3...Be7 is played, and is how the Cunningham variation is aggressive.

5.Be2     Again usual here is 5.Bc4 or 5.d4   (this move leaves the database).

5...Bh4+ Good move, usually played on the 4th move.

8...Bg7   A big positional mistake/blunder. Be7 would have been better (even dxe5). Please compare:

   8...Be7 9.exd6 cxd6 10.h4 g4! (better than h6) now white cannot play 11.Ng5

   8...Bg7?! 9.exd6 cxd6 10.h4 g4 (still >  h6?) now white can play 11.Ng5!

10...h6?    Again 10...g4 could have saved the game, though white would still have an attack with 11.Ng5! or 11.Bb5+. The current move allows white to launch a very strong attack, and yes, it is very difficult, if at all possible, to save the game from this point against a strong opponent.

Thank you LaskerFan. You're going through all my games like crazy. :)

You're analysis are very good, and I appreciate you posting. Will perhaps check over them more tomorrow.

Have a good night!

Jeremy

Instructive game. Thanks for sharing.

No problem. I'm happy you liked it! :)

The King's Gambit is a very fun opening to play. 

The King's Gambit is sensational! I'm just starting to study it now. Very fun indeed.

And as you can probably tell it's not boring either, and can be a very fun and aggressive opening, exactly what I like.

Have you looked at the Allgaier Gambit yet? (5.Ng5)

I love how it destroys black's king side and exposes his king, but white will have his work cut out in trying to find good enough compensation.

I haven't seen any Allgaier games yet. I just discovered the Cunningham last Saturday. But if you post any King's Gambit games, then I'll play through them and discuss them with you as much as you like.

I'm trying to study as many examples of the KG and all its variations as I can over the next few weeks. I want to become familiar and comfortable with this opening so that I can play more interesting and fun chess. I mean, that's why we like chess, right?