1.e4 e5 2.f4
The King's Gambit starts 1.e4 e5 2.f4. White offers the f-pawn to deflect Black's e-pawn, then plans d4 to take the whole centre and use the open f-file for a rook after castling.
Black can accept with 2...exf4, the King's Gambit Accepted, or decline with moves such as 2...Bc5 or 2...d5, the Falkbeer Countergambit. After 2...exf4, White's 3.Nf3 stops ...Qh4+ and prepares d4, and Black often defends the extra pawn with ...g5.
It was the main opening of 19th-century attacking chess. Engines rate it as less good for White than the main 1.e4 e5 openings, but it remains a dangerous practical weapon, especially at faster time controls.
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It leads to open, tactical games from move two. White gets fast development, the f-file and attacking chances, while Black must defend accurately even with an extra pawn.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.d4 d6 7.Nd3 Nxe4 8.Bxf4
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After 2...exf4 White has the central pawns (e4, soon d4) and a half-open f-file, while Black has an extra pawn on f4 that cramps White's dark-squared bishop. The opening is a fight over that pawn: if White wins it back with a good position, White stands well; if Black keeps it and survives, Black stands better.
When Black supports f4 with ...g5, the kingside pawns become a target for h4. In the Muzio and Allgaier gambits White even gives a whole piece to break the chain.
In the declined lines the play is calmer. After 2...Bc5 the bishop covers g1, so White cannot castle kingside until it is blocked or traded. White usually plays Nf3, c3 and d4.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1
Black plays ...d6 first, so the e5 square is covered before ...g5 and the knight cannot jump there. After 6.Ng1 the knight goes home, and White plans to win f4 back with Bxf4 or Ne2. Bobby Fischer published the line in 1961 in an article titled 'A Bust to the King's Gambit'.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O gxf3 6.Qxf3
After 3...g5 4.Bc4 g4, White leaves the f3 knight to be taken and castles. After 5...gxf3 6.Qxf3 White has a huge lead in development and pressure on f7 for a whole piece. It is objectively risky, but very dangerous over the board.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4
Black declines with a counter-gambit. After 3.exd5 e4, the e4 pawn cramps White's development. Modern players more often decline with 2...Bc5 instead.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3
Black declines and puts the bishop on c5, where it stops White from castling kingside. White usually continues 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3, preparing d4.
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.fxe5 Qh4+ 4.g3 Qxe4+ 5.Qe2 Qxh1
After 2...Bc5, the natural-looking 3.fxe5?? is a blunder. 3...Qh4+ forces 4.g3, and 4...Qxe4+ checks the king while attacking the h1 rook, which falls next move. 4.Ke2 is even worse: 4...Qxe4 is checkmate.
The King's Gambit dominated chess in the 19th century. The Immortal Game, Adolf Anderssen's famous win against Lionel Kieseritzky in London in 1851, began with it, and Paul Morphy won many brilliant games with it.
Its reputation fell in the 20th century as defensive technique improved. In 1960 Boris Spassky beat Bobby Fischer with it at Mar del Plata, and Fischer answered with his 1961 article recommending 3...d6. Today it appears mostly in rapid and blitz, though top players still use it occasionally as a surprise.
Copy the position at the end of the main line, open the chess move calculator, paste it into the “Paste FEN” box under the board and press the FEN button next to it. Stockfish 19 then suggests a move for the side to play, at the strength set on the calculator's slider, and you can play on from there to test your own ideas.
rnbqkb1r/ppp2p1p/3p4/8/3PnBpP/3N4/PPP3P1/RN1QKB1R b KQkq - 0 81. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. d4 d6 7. Nd3 Nxe4 8. Bxf4For a move-by-move review of a whole game you played with this opening, use the chess analysis board.
Knowing the moves is not the same as playing them under pressure. Play chess against the computer with the white pieces and steer the game toward the King's Gambit from move one, then sharpen the tactics that come out of it with chess puzzles.
Go deeper: Checkmate patterns to know · Castling rules and timing
Not quite, by modern engine standards: Black can reach a good position with accurate play. But the margins are small and the positions are hard to defend over the board, so it is a perfectly good practical choice below master level.
Accepting with 2...exf4 is the most testing reply. Players who do not want to learn the sharp lines can decline with 2...Bc5, or accept and give the pawn back quickly with 3...d5.
To stop 3...Qh4+, which would force the white king to move and lose the right to castle. The knight also prepares d4 and Ne5 ideas.
It is the 1851 game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in London, a King's Gambit in which Anderssen gave up a bishop, both rooks and his queen before delivering checkmate. It is the most famous attacking game of the 19th century.
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