I also play that variation and I think it's quite solid but the problem is that people don't play the King's Gambit often...
Aggressive Chess Opening Discussion #18: King's Gambit Series: King's Gambit Accepted
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This opening was named after a Russian national master named mikhail aleksandrovich bonch-osmolovsky. It was named after him simply because this line was played by him, but he lost the game. It became popular during the 1980's after Sergey Nadyrkhanov - Alexander Graf played this opening and it became really popular after that game. I can see why it became popular. So many missed opportunities and black played a brilliant engine move, but didn't fully punish white for it. However, I don't think this is the way to play the King's Gambit as black. Again, the move 3...Ne7 is rarely played in master games, considering that it was played 156 times. That is a low number compared to other king's gambit games. There really isn't that much theory behind this opening, so it isn't easy to discuss about this opening. I suppose you could use this as a surprise attack for white, since it could immediately throw white off guard here. That's if white isn't fully prepared. I'm just going to share the main idea for black in this opening. So, let's get started.
After 3...Ne7, this move is called the "King's Gambit Accepted: Bonsch-Osmolovsky Variation".
After 3...Ne7, black's idea behind this move to meet d4 with the move d5 Striking at white's center immediately or reroute the knight to g6 where it can defend the f4 pawn that way. The problem behind this move is that you are moving your piece 2 times in the opening and blocking the dark squared bishop in, which is a chess principle not to move your pieces more than once during the opening stage. Which is why this opening isn't commonly played. White has 4 options for this move: 4.d4, 4.Bc4, 4.Nc3, or 4.Qe2. Let's look at the move 4.Qe2.
After 4.Qe2, white's idea is the castle queen side. The engines are having a hard time seeing this as an inaccuracy or a good move. So it's unclear if this move should be played or not. Black continues their plan of rerouting the knight with 4...Ng6. 5.Nc3, developing the queen side pieces also preventing black from playing d5. 5...c6, black really wants to play the move d5 so that they can have their own central square. White just controls the center with 6.d4. White almost has the perfect set up for their pieces. 6...Bb4, developing a piece, pinning the knight, and threatening to ruin white's queen side structure. White really wants to get rid of the f4 pawn and that knight is being a real pest, so white goes with the move 7.h4. This move really wants to move the knight away from the defense of f4. 7...h6 just maintaining a flexible position, keeping some of white's pieces away from important squares. 8.h5 as planned. 8...Ne7 is the only square for the knight. 9.Bxf4 as planned. Developing a piece and regaining the lost pawn. 9...d5 as planned striking at white's strong center. 10.exd5, simply taking the pawn to relieve tension in the center, but now black can indeed sacrifice a pawn to try gaining some attacking possibilities on the queen side. Black will castle here (10...O-O). White will accept another pawn, because they did just win a free pawn. So 11.dxc6, 11...Nbxc6. Developing a piece. Now white should castle queen side 12.O-O-O. Just accepting the fact that you will have a screwy pawn structure and the king will be safer there than in the center. 12...Bxc3, just damaging white's queen side structure. 13.bxc3. 13...Bg4, you want to complete development and play as active as possible since you did just sacrifice a pawn. 14.Bd2, the bishop was useless on f4 since there isn't no targets. Moving the bishop back also prevents a tempo lost from the knight routing since white has the bishop pair on the board. 14...Qa5, black is looking for some checkmating ideas on the queen side. a2 is undefendable, so you might as well just give black their pawn back with and bring your pieces to the defense with 15.Qb5. Black will of course take their pawn back. 15...Qxa2, but white already brought their pieces into the defense, so there is no attacking possibilities anymore. 16.Qb2, again wanting a queen trade, since it would relieve the situation on the queen side. Black doesn't have anything, so they should take the offer with 16...Qxb2 17.Kxb2. This position is a draw, but 17...b5, a tactical shot just to try and fool white into thinking it's a free pawn, but obviously white won't fall for it and just continues with centralizing the rooks with 18.Re1. 18...Rfd8 black does the same and wants to go for b4 next. White forks both knight and bishop with 19.Ne5. A nice centralizing move. Black has to move the bishop, so 19...be6, 20.g4 just gaining some space on the king side. 20...Nxe5, again trying to see which way white will capture. Obviously white will capture with the rook since if dxe5, then the bishop is hanging and now black is the one that's winning. I'll stop right here since this is move 20. This game will eventually lead to a draw. I have nothing else to say about this position. Here is what the position looks like on the board:
Now let's look at the move 4.Nc3.
After 4.Nc3, white's plan is the same. Developing the queen side pieces and castle queen side. Black will play a bit symmetrical to white with 4...Nbc6. Developing the piece and looks to do the same as white. 5.d4, controlling the center and putting pressure on f4. The f4 pawn isn't worth wasting time on, so black has to be activr with 5...d5. Striking at white's center. 6.Bd3, if black wants to capture the pawn, then white would be happy putting the bishop on the e4 square where it could potentially target the c6 knight to potentially damage the pawn structure. 6...Bg4, black continues with the plan of developing the queen side pieces and puts the f3 knight in a pin, so now d4 hangs. 7.h3, White immediately addresses the issues, but now looses a central pawn. 7...Bxf3, 8.Qxf3 8...dxe4, just taking an important central pawn. 9.Nxe4, placing the knight on a nice central square. 9...Ng6, black wants to meet the move Bxf4 by taking the bishop after it captures the pawn, just to get rid of the bishop pair.. 10.Bxf4, white has nothing better to do. 10...Nxf4, 11.Qxf4. 11...Qxd4, just taking another central pawn. Now comes 12.Rf1, threatening to capture the f7 pawn. Black should just castle here to avoid anymore trouble (12...O-O-O). White should do the same (13.O-O-O). 13...Be7, black tries to complete development and lets white regain a pawn to finish their development. 14.Qxf7, it's a free pawn for grabs. 14...Kb8 a safety move. 15.Kb1 white does the same to see what black does. 15...Rhf4, just completing development of all of the pieces 16.Qc4, offering a queen exchange. Both players have no attack going on so this is justified. 16...Qxc4. 17.Bxc4. 17...Rxd1+ just trading down even more to a drawn endgame. 18.Rxd1. 18...Ne5 gaining a tempo on the bishop. 19.Bb3, the only logical square. 19...c6 resolving the back rank issues and trying to move the king closer to the center. White does the same with 20.c3. Black continues their plan with 20...Kc7. Here I'm just gonna stop because it's move 20. In this position, this is another dead in which both players don't have any possibility for attack. Here is what the position looks like on the board:
Now let's look at the move 4.Bc4.
After 4.Bc4, white wants to develop immediately, put pressure on f7, and castle king side, but this move immediately meets with 4...d5. Attacking the bishop and the e4 pawn. 5.exd5 has to be played. 5...Nxd5. Now putting the knight on a nice central square 6.O-O as planned. 6...c6 just sticking that knight on d5. 7.Re1+, trying to do something with black's king being stuck in the center. 7...Be7, blocking the check, developing a piece and preparing to castle. 8.Bxd5, trying to keep black's king in the center, but simply 8...cxd5 and now black will castle on the next move. White knows this and plays 9.d4. Just grabbing some central space. 9...O-O as planned. 10.Bxf4, just regaining the pawn that was lost. 10...Be6, developing the bishop and reinforcing d5. 11.c3, creates a solid pawn chain. 11...Nd7, this knight wants to move to e4 since it is a nice outpost for the knight. 12.Qb3, just attacking the b7 pawn. 12...b6, now the pawn is protected. This can help the e6 bishop reroute to b7. 13.Nbd2, just continuing development also putting control over e4. 13...Nf6 as planned. 14.Ng5, gaining a tempo on the lightsquared bishop also putting more support for the e4 square. 14...Bf5, again trying to get Ne4 in soon once one of the knights move. 15.Ngf3, just moving the knight away and preparing Ne5. 15...Re8, a logical move, just putting the rook on the open file and continuing development. 16.h3 trying to remand solid here and prevent the knight from hoping into the g4 square. 16...Ne4 as planned. White has to take that knight since it is a really good piece. 17.Nxe4, 17...dxe5, gaining a tempo on the knight. 18.Ne5, this knight has really made itself a very useful piece here since it attack puts even more pressure on f7. 18...Be6, black simply defends the threat of Qxf7. 19.Qb5, the queen wants to come back to e2 to prepare for capturing on e4. 19...a6 just takes the chance to gain a tempo on the queen. 20.Qe2, as planned. Preparing to capture the e4 pawn. 20...f5 solidifying the pawn. Now that it's move 20, I will not go further into this opening. In this position, white has a simple threat of eliminating the bishop pair from the board. Once the bishop pair is gone, this position will just be plain equal. Both black and white have 1 protected passed pawn, but it's not so easy for either player to push them forward. Both king's are pretty safe where they are, despite the fact that their king side structure is a bit weakening. There isn't no immediate threat for either players, well besides white's fork. That's pretty much just it. Here is what the position looks like on the board:
This will inevitably lead to an equal position. If played correctly from both sides. Now let's look at the move 4.d4
After 4.d4, this is the best move in the position in which white immediately takes control of the center. Ng6 or d5 can be played here. I'll just leave d5 as a sideline in the analysis for you guys to check it out. 4...Ng6 as planned. Rerouting the knight for the defense of f4. 5.Nc3, white wants to castle queen side to gain some attacking possibilities. 5...Bb4, developing, pinning a piece, and ready to castle next. 6.h4, trying to dislodge the g6 knight from the defense of f4. 6...d5 striking at the center. 7.h5, dislodging the knight from the defense of the f4 square. The knight has to move back, so 7...Ne7. 8.Bd3, wants to put the bishop on a more active square in case black decides to take. Black should take the pawn, so 8...dxe4, 9.Bxe4. Putting the bishop on a more active square. 9...Bd6, defending the f4 pawn. 10.h6, trying to destroy the king side structure. 10...g6, black allows white to have a fawn pawn. This pawn could be a nuisance. 11.Ne5, just centralizing the knight, and blocking the bishop's view from protecting f4. Black just takes the strong knight since there is no stopping white from taking f4. Now comes a series of exchanges. 11...Bxe5, 12.dxe5, 12...Qxd1, since white was threatening to take the queen on d8, black does it themselves. 13.Nxd1 of course. You want to leave the option to castle possible for white. 13...Nbc6, continuing development and is preparing to castle queen side. 14.Bxc6+, removing the knight. 14...Nxc6. Now 15.Bxf4, regaining the pawn. 15...Bf5 attacking the c2 pawn. White defends and attacks the light squared bishop with 16.Ne3. 16...O-O-O, prevents white from castling queen side. 17.Nxf5, damaging white's structure, but this is a drawn position. 17...gxf5. 18.Rh5 of course. Going for some pawns in the endgame. 18...Ne7 defending the threat of rook takes. 19.Bg5, attacking the defender of the 19...Rd5, a tactical idea allowing white to take the knight so that white can win a pawn. 20.Bxe7 of course. 20.Rxe5+. Now that we've reached the 20th move in the position, we will not go further through with the line. In this position, this is another dead draw. So, I won't be going over what happens next since it's pretty simple. Here is what the position looks like on the board:
This is an equal position for both players. Here is my proof of the analysis I've done on this opening:
https://www.chess.com/a/2mZatRLEiAQ7Q
I wouldn't recommend playing this opening, since there is a higher possibility for both players to equalize. Which makes this opening very boring to play and if you want to protect f4, then Nf6 is the way to go. Ne7 is just... not it since it can get hit by the h pawn. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this article on the Bonsch-Osmolovsky Variation. Let me know what you think. I'll do 1 more post today on another opening focusing on the move 3...Nc6. See you all later.