The Art of the King's Gambit

The King's Gambit--The King of chess openings. First studied by Greco, the moves 1.e4 e5 2.f4 have survived the test of time for over four hundred years, and there is yet a refutation to be found.

White is down a pawn (hence the name "gambit") but often achieves counterplay due to his development and his better central control. Very often, black's pieces become uncoordinated, and slashing kingside attacks often occur.

The King's Gambit's middle name is Sacrifice. When studying this gambit, I found some extremely enjoyable games where white throws the kitchen sink at the black king to give a forced checkmate. It is one of these games that I wanted to share with you today.

The game I wanted to share with you was played between the players Sepulveda and Prieta. A massive fight, some massive sacrifices, a minor piece checkmate....what more could you ask for?

I have no words. It is impossible not to study this game over and over again; it teaches so many principles and it is just too beautiful. We rarely see such games in the computer era.