The King's Gambit unsound?

the kings gambit is unsound but there are so many traps for black to fall into that white usually does okay especially below the GM level.

Smeak, totally agreed.  F22Raptor, you have your work set out to prove it.  I am fully convinced Fischer was running his mouth because he was angry that he lost.  A true pity that the opening dwindled after his "bust".  BTW, he even played the opening after he "busted" it.  No WC would ever play a busted opening like that in a serious game - maybe against someone like you or me, but not against any real competition. 

"but a certain friend says that Chess computers/engines/whatever have shown that it's not good at all and that White is failing as soon as it's accepted."

Do you playing strictly against chess engines? 

Do you play against people in OTB tournaments?

Why are you concerned about what a chess engine thinks about an opening? 

Youre playing people, not chess engines. 

I'm not "concerned" about anything. All I wanted to know is if the KG was considered unsound.

Friend, if your opponent thinks it is, that is better for you, since they will have less respect for it (and therefore know less about it).  Consider that it is currently being played by some of the greatest chess minds in history - in serious competition these days.  That ought to tell you something :-)

I was curious about the statement mentioned a couple times about Fischer employing the KG after his  bust article. I spent a few minutes with the chessgames.com database and found 20 games in which Fischer instigated the KG, of which all but 5 were simuls. 1 game was against a computer, possibly for demonstration, 1 was against an IM (an informal game vs the Argentine chamion, Jorge Szmetan) played the year before Fischer won the WC.  One, stangely enough, was against Larry Evans in the 1963 US Championship. Even more strangely, the remaining two were played in the same international tournament in Vinkovci 1968.  I didn't investigate possible Fischer games in which he played the black side, even though his famous loss against Spassky that spurred the bust article had Fischer losing with black, since black can't initiate the KG. So, Fischer instigated three KG games in his entire tournament career (taking into consideration the possible limitations of the database) : 1 in 1963 and 2 in the same tournament in 1968. 

Batgirl, Korchnoi's book had mentioned that Fischer played the KG after he "busted" it.  I think he just wanted to vent.  After all, Nimzowitsch said the Caro Kann was the refutation of 1. e4!  ;-)

Looking through databases for Fischer/KG games, I came across this miniature (he would have been quite young):

Uptight! Whose uptight???

Hello guys, first post here. I think the King's Gambit is dead. Like Sasha Grischuk said "too many ways to equalize and gain the advantage for black". I personally recommend the Fischer defense (3..d6). I win most of the time I play that and for the most part white hardly ever gains the gambit pawn back and I maintain a healthy advantage. If 4.Bc4, then 4..h6 followed by g5. If 4.d4, then simply 4..g5 immediately. 5.h3, then 5..Bg7 fianchettoing the bishop and so on. Very health game already with gambit pawn in hand. If after 4..g5, 4.h4(?!) then simply 5..g4 and white is in trouble. Also  the 3..Ne7 and 3..d5 (Abbazia defense) are good variations. You might get away with it against beginners but against good  players you would be exposed. In other words don't play it to often. 

Funny stuff.

The majority of this thread seems to differ. As a KG player(though I'm no expert...), I don't fear Fischer's Defense, instead I fear 3...d5.

If you say so... 

Here was a fun game I once played against my computer with the KG:

bump #12, this thread is golden