Ok this might be completely off topic, but I'm curious about something.
Since I started playing e5 agaisnt e4 not too long ago, I obviously face the King's gambit quite a few times.
What I would like to know is, if it's common for black to castle queen side? because that's what I aim for a lot of times.
The King's gambit, for the club player like me, hit its peak about 35 years ago. That's when its advantages and dangers were known only by those who played it regularly. Now it's been worked to death. In the 1970s, I played KG every almost single time we bagan 1. e4 e5. My win-loss record with it was off the charts for several years... until the better players in my region started becoming more and more aware of it and started studying it. Now... its impossible to have that kind of success with it.
So, long story short is this for a club player: Black should decline the gambit. White, if Black declines, must wait out the development until Black finally gives in and takes the f-pawn. Remember that the reason you put that pawn out there was to get Black to take it... no matter if it's 10 moves in, under normal development and probing. Black should make the decision at move 2... I am NOT taking that pawn, period. More highly-rated players (1800+) know deeper analysis, and the higher the rating of the players the less likely you are to see the KG.
One thing I will say about it... if you have difficulty with attention to 4-hour games where it's all packed in the middle with a lot of congestion, you will not have that difficulty playing the KG. I was once told by a 1900-rated player that I lost to about 6 times in a row (never beat him), "Tom, you're not the best player I've ever played... but you certainly do create the most interesting games." Easy to say when you're crushing me time after time... but it is why I played the KG for so long.
tell you why i never played the King's Gambit or Queen's gambit ....
not a King sac or a Queen sac to be seen in either of them!
The King's Gambit is great fun to play! It always makes for an exciting tactical game. I play the King's Gambit all the time and win about 53% of all of my games as white. I suggest you check out Paul Morphy's King Gambit games to get an idea of what you can do with the KG!
Batgirl's blitz games are my personal favs
VERY CAREFULLY---NG5 AND PH4 ALSO SHOW UP......FISCHER LOVED D6.
2...d5 It's king's counter gambit. Black won most games in that opening. I like playing it too.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8047
Apparently the King's Gambit has been solved using a riduculously powerful supercomputer. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 actually loses to 3...d6!, which Fischer wrote about in A Bust to the King's Gambit. 3. Bc4 also loses, and 3. Be2! leads to a draw with best play.
**EDIT: See my next next post on this thread. Sorry. Just check the date on the article...**
there's a couple of significant dates on that article
there's a couple of significant dates on that article
You mean April Fools' Day? I don't think they celebrate that in Hungary.
EDIT: See my next post on this thread. Sorry...
there's a couple of significant dates on that article
You mean April Fools' Day? I don't think they celebrate that in Hungary.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8067
Oops. It was an April Fools' Day joke. I fell for it. Sorry everyone.
The Kings Gambit is a difficult opening, because it is both tactical and strategical at the same time. More "pure" tactical openings, such as the Evans Gambit, Center Gambit, Scotch Gambit, Italian Game, etc, would be simpler to understand and to play. "How to play the Kings Gambit?". Gosh, it's hard. You just play it and study it and keep trying for years. Hire a master for help if you can afford it.
Cnl_Duck gave a very good reply to the King's Gambit. Personally as White, and I've played a lot of King's Gambit, I find this particular response by Black the hardest to refute.
The King's Gambit was the opening I studied seriously as a new player, mostly because it was a lot of fun, but also because it seemed to irritate a lot of my opponents (?!). I bought a Batsford Chess book on the King's Gambit and spent a few months on it, learning the main lines. I also attended seminars given by Lawrence Day, who played on Canada's Olympic Chess team 8+ times, on the subject of this opening. Lawrence gave a simul against 32 players in our Brampton, Ontario club and won 30 games, drew one and lost one (I lost after about 47 moves).
However, if you want to learn how to play the King's Gambit, I highly recommend getting a book specifically on that opening, and spending time in that book regularly playing out the various lines over the board, noting traps, key diagonals and files, etc and the main features of the opening.
While all openings are different, there are key themes that they all share and studying one at a time is a great way to learn opening play in general. Don't let people discourage you by telling you the KGB is an old fashioned opening, etc. Let's face it, if chess isn't fun, unless you're a professional player or candidate for the World Championship, there's not much point in playing. So pick an opening you have fun playing, and do your best to master it. At least you won't go into a game without a clue about opening strategy and you'll have a sharp weapon if you can play your choice of opening.
That's my advice, for what it's worth. However, nobody should study any openings more than they practice tactics, until they master tactics.
Tactical traps will prove to be the key to most openings!
I hope this helps. All the best and good luck.
From a patzer-in-progress.
mcb_1, it turns out the referenced article was an April Fool's day joke. Sorry, I didn't realize. :(
However, the Fischer Defense is definitely a sound response to the King's Gambit. It deprives white of the post on e5 and forces the king's knight to retreat.
To Pfren and everyone else debating between 3. Bc4 and 3. Nf3 - theyre both playable. Sure, 3. Nf3 is more sound, but can lead to the violent Muzio Gambit, a personal favorite of mine. On the other hand, it does prevent 3...Qh4+ as allowed in the Bishops gambit. Granted this check is not seen too often since it gives white little problem.
3...Qh4+ ought to be OK as well. It simply is not to my taste, as the resulting positions are sort of irrational.
Cnl_Duck, the Fischer response really is brilliant in its effectiveness and simplicity. I agree.
3. Bc4 and 3. Nf3 are the two main lines.
Gallagher's "Winning with the King's Gambit" is devoted to Nf3. Johansson's "The Fascinating King's Gambit" covers Bc4. There isn't much overlap between them so if you really want to get into the KG, you should look up one or the other. Gallagher's book was in '93 and out of print - Johansson's is only a couple years old.
There's supposedly a new book coming out in a couple months by Pinski, but it's been supposedly coming out in a couple months for a year or more. Amazon says it's 600 pages...not sure why it's so humongous but there you have it.
While I agree that 3.Bc4 may be a normal move for class players, I should warn that it's regularly played for precisely the wrong reason. Most class players think that 3.Bc4 prevents the immediate 3...d5, but factly 3.Bc4 INVITES 3...d5 to be played to good effect!