Nice post Thane. I love gambits, especially with the bishop on c4. That is my 2nd move, after the e4/e5 opening.
From there you get to try out a heap of gambits..
If Black plays Nf6, you can play the Ponziani gambit.
If they refuse it, you can play the Urusov gambit, and if they refuse that you can often play a line of the Scotch Gambit. Basically, it is very hard for your opponent to refuse all your gambits and a fun game is guaranteed.
Black often plays Nc6, and you usually play the Vienna Hybrid (very solid system) or the Copycat gambit (shown)
If black plays Bc5, you can try the Lewis gambit! Any black player who grabs that gift pawn with their pawn is in for a shock! Bishop sac on f7 and then Qh5+
People will say gambits just dont work at the highest level, but that is only for GMs and IMs and even then it is only for slow classical games. My level, 2100 rapid and about 1900 Blitz, they work all the time. Great fun, even when you dont win
You get to play a variation you've studied and realize it as a solid weapon to add to your repertoire.
One of my favorite Gambits in my employ is the Italian-Koltanowski Gambit. I've also heard it called the Deutz Gambit, but I learned it as the former. This was the first time i've gotten to this variation called The Rosentreter in a game, but i'm hoping to see it more often. After A brutal tilt of nearly 200 rating points I'm trying to get away the pressure of the rating climb. Just gonna grind out some games and see what I can learn.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this game. I certainly did.
Best Vibes as always,
BigFox90