Suggestions for Playing King's Gambit in Tournaments

Hello everyone,

I am looking into playing the King's Gambit as White as my main opening. I will be playing in USCF tournaments mainly against players in the rating range of 1600 - 2000. I really like having the initiative in openings, which is why I am considering it. However, I am not sure if this opening is sound against players of that strength. It has worked well against 1200 rated players in the past but I am not sure if I stand much chance against the stronger players using such moves. If you don't think this is a good opening for my purposes, then what would you suggest I study?

Grandmasters have played it, so of course it's sound, but can be risky. Just depends on how well you know it I suppose. I only bring it out against far weaker players than myself. (Also, I never play well against 2. d5)

I don't think it's sound. By sound I mean if it is a White opening, it doesn't immediately hands in the advantage to Black in a known line. And GMs play it very occasionally, I think, just for surprise value.

Almost all openings are sound, specially at club level...

Gaining initiative is always good at your level, if u calculate well.

Maybe if I played a saner variation of it I would be fine. I only play the wild Muzio Gambit against weaker players than myself in order to win quickly. Almost all my games with that opening are miniatures.

The Muzio gambit is a ridiculous attempt from the times when chess was no more serious than a game of poker, and the King's gambit in general, at least against me, failed miserably, in more than one occasion, and I'm far from being an international master, let alone a GM.

That's why I only play it against very low-rated opponents (under 1200 kind of low level). I generally think it's a bad idea to use it against, say, a 1900 OTB player, because they understand how to make counterplay and complications much better. I looked at The King's Gambit by John Shaw to try to see if the King's Gambit in general was a viable opening for my purposes. Basically I saw lots of complicated mixed-up positions and no clear answer. 

i started with giuoco piano in tournaments but if i could go back in time i would choose scotch four knights instead

If you should use it against 1600-2000 players you need to study it more deeply and therefore, If you don't already have one I recommend buying a book. According to chess.com ratings you don't seem to fit in the 1600-2000 range so I wonder what your playing strength is OTB

I started with 1.e4 some 30 years ago and watched some strong blitz players making faces like they were tactically outplayed, smashed and thrown out of the window, in that king's gambit of yours.

My OTB rating is 730 but I have beaten a 1400 rated player recently as well as a 1200 (and had some close games with 1700 and 1900 rated players). I'm trying to participate in more tournaments so my rating is more accurate. Online I mainly just play casually and experiment with ideas as practice for my tournaments, so I'm not really concerned about my rating at all here. If you are not sure about my playing strength, here are some games that I played in a recent tournament.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/my-games-from-a-recent-chess-tournament

The King's Gambit is a great opening, i play it all the time against opponents both higher and lower than my own grade, both online and OTB.

As you say in your OP, it gives good initaitive and your opponent could easily go badly wrong. Just bear in mind that white can also go badly wrong, so quick losses are also a danger.

i recommend Joe Gallagher's Winning with the King's Gambit, which is a bit old now, but still very instructive 

Also, try joining a thematic tournament here, practise some lines and you'll also get a feel for what to expect from your opponents. These could also help you learn various traps that people often walk into...

Any reasons why you would suggest that?

I don't understand... do people play different openings against people of different ratings? 

Is this an idea/strategy that people here suggest?

Not exactly. Certain openings, however, are very difficult to play well against those who likely know about the opening well (in this case King's Gambit may be difficult to play against 2000 rated players due to the high risk). In general though most openings are playable at any level and work well (in the right hands). I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to learn for competitive tournament play.

Well play it if you like it!... any opening you play will have a risk/reward right? There's no way to know what a "1600-2000" level player will have "learned" since his last opening... he may be rated 1600 and playing at 2300 for all you know.... (unless you're playing at a club where you know each other well)

In the end the only thing you can be sure of is whether or not you like playing the type of positions that arise, right? 

right

I think you're confused... the only "king's gambit" you ever played was when you got checkmated and tried to call it a gambit... the gambit where you gave up your king!

You are on the right track there. A 1900-rated player won't let you fish in murky waters with the Muzio anyway, he is much more likely to reply with the Abbazia (3...d5) or the Fischer (3...d6) variations. In the rare case you encounter the Classical KGA at that level, don't hope for 4...g4 - get ready for the materialistic 4...Bg7 instead.

And forget the Shaw book. That's a monumental treatise full of complex variations that would take you years to get through and probably leave you completely bewildered in the end. In addition, it operates with positional concepts that even an A-class/1st-cat player will struggle to grasp.

If you want a book you can hope to understand and benefit from, I must second gambit-man's Gallagher suggestion.