The Art of the King's Gambit, Part 2
Yesterday, we looked at a beautiful game in the King's Gambit played by Sepulveda. Yet there are countless King's Gambit games, and that was only the top of the pile. As we delve deeper, as we go into the inner heart of the King's Gambit, true beauty in chess is unearthed.
The game I wanted to show to you today was played two decades ago, where computers were still untrustworthy. Today, the opening that was played (The Muzio Gambit) has been proven to be unsound or to be on the brink on unsoundness. However, it remains an excellent practical choice when the opponent is unprepared (as are many King's Gambit lines!)
White sacrificed the house, threw the kitchen sink, and flung all his pieces at the black king, to finish down a queen but with a dark-squared bishop giving checkmate. That, in my opinion, is true beauty.
It is not clear where black went wrong without deep, two-month long computer analysis, and I pride myself in analyzing without the engine kibitzing in the background.
The kibitzers on chessgames.com recommend 9...Qf5! as winning for black...but in a practical game, anything can happen, and deeper analysis is needed. Perhaps in one of my later blog posts I will attempt a definitive analysis of 9...Qf5.
Until then...
