Chess Openings King's Gambit Style

The Bishop's Gambit is available by way of 3.Bc4. This looks a little surprising maybe. It seems like your top priorities should be to win back the pawn and keep the Black Queen out of h4. This you would achieve in the Main Line with 3.Nf3.

And yet some people say 3.Bc4 is the better move. Sure after 3...Qh4+ you lose your castling rights but this is not a dangerous line for you. Your King remains quite safe on f1 and the Black Queen often becomes a target. Eventually your King will get to g2 and you will have a harmonious set-up.

3...Qh4+ is not so popular for these reasons. There are two main responses from Black. The old Main Line is 3...d5. This has been replaced more recently by 3...Nc6. GM Simon Williams gives a great overview on the Bishop's Gambit.

The Bryan Countergambit is an option for you when you have the Black pieces. The whole point of this move is to drag White's light square Bishop out of position. Then you will attack the White Kingside with ferocity.

Your light square Bishop can go to b7 with tempo. Your Queen and King's Knight will make tactical trouble for White's King. You can often make it really difficult for White to castle.

Black scored heavily with this system in the 1850s with Morphy, Anderssen and Kieseritzky among those who enjoyed success with it. It has failed miserably in it's brief appearances modern chess however. Black has repeatedly lost against inferior players. For all of that, if it could shine in the Romantic Era, it has a future in amateur chess.

The Kieseritzky Countergambit is the Bryan Countergambit without the intermezzo 3.Qh4+ Kf1. This move is coming just the same. White will again have the option of accepting your gambit or declining in a number of ways.

4.Bxb5 takes the Bishop off his best diagonal and allows you to play ...Bb7 sooner or later with tempo. Now you have gained the initiative and must play with energy to make up for your absent pawn.

Of course White can decline with 4.Bb3 in which case you can continue with 4...Qh4+ and ...Bb7 later. Or White can decline with a gambit of his own. He can do this with 4.Bxf7+ followed by a violent attack.

The Lopez-Gianutio Countergambit is an energetic way to answer 3.Bc4. It's similar to the Gianutio Countergambit in the 3.Nf3 version. The alternative 3rd move here makes it a little different. As Black you will counter White's gambit on the f-file by following suit with 3...f5.

This results in you making the early running. Your Queen may go to h4 and you will have a lead in development. White must play accurately to hold you at bay in a highly tactical battle.

White often plays 4.Qe2 threatening 5.exf5+. Here you can take with 4...fxe4 and White has a number of ways to continue. None however with a proven edge and you ought to have a good game.

The Keres Gambit sees you allow Black to hold on to his extra pawn. He is also permitted to play 3...Qh4+, taking your castling rights. Such a disruption with a vulnerable King being pushed around in the center is enough to put off most beginners.

Black can use the central White King to force you into uncomfortable pins. Your King is also blocking in his own pieces as he stumbles to safety from these attacks. So what was Keres thinking?


Surprisingly enough Black can't actually mount any dangerous attacks against your King who often finishes up on the Queenside. In blocking the checks your pieces will end up on nice active squares. While Black has wasted time harassing your King you can often get nicer pieces.

Long term g4 and h4 are not great squares for the Black Queen and Bishop. When you secure your King you will be ready to turn the tables and launch an attack against your poorly prepared opponent.

The Tartakower Gambit allows Black to hold f4. It's a more conservative gambit if there is such a thing. Saviely Tartakower played this opening a number of times with mostly good results.

The games tend to last longer with the Bishop going to e2 rather than the more attacking c4. White ensures against any irritation by a Bishop arriving on g4 to pin.

Black consolidates his outpost on f4 and White settles in for a strategic battle of wills that will stretch into the endgame. Rook endgames feature in many of these tussles.

The Stamma Gambit attempts to prevent or at least delay any ...g5,...g4 advance from Black. 3...g5 is typically a big favorite for Black in many King's Gambit so this idea cuts that out.

The most popular response to the Stamma Gambit is 3...Be7 immediately pressurizing h4. You can hold with 4.Nf3. This move has sometimes been preceded by 4.Qg4 followed by 5.Nf3.

This line has been seen at 1800 to 2000 level with some success. A deep study of all plausible lines should come before deploying this one in the field. Things can get a little messy so you ought to have clear objectives and goals in hand.

You try the Villemson Gambit with the intention of claiming a big center. You accept Black's main reply almost as a given. 3...Qh4+ means you will lose the right to castle as 4.g3 can't be played here.

The game continues as you try to break through on the Queenside and the center. Black meanwhile will try to cause problems on the Kingside with ...Bg4 always a possibility.

You shouldn't necessarily be too concerned about the centralized King. The h4-Queen is unable to do major harm out on the wing against good defense. Plus you're playing in a closed position. The ability to post your pieces well and win the strategic battle is key here.

The Breyer Gambit sees you play 3.Qf3 when Black accepts the King's Gambit. It might seem strange developing the Queen so early. And what's more to a square your King's Knight is rather fond of. What are you trying to do with this move?

Your Queen is there to strengthen the long diagonal. Black can play 3...Nc6, 3...d5 or 3...Qh4+ in response. Richard Reti used this opening a number of times a century ago. His opponents tended to favor 3...d5. Reti would go for 4.Bb5+ Nf6 5.exd5 with pressure on the long diagonal.

Recent master games show 3...Qh4+ is more popular now. This is answered by 4.g3 and in the following skirmishes the Queens tend to come off early. These days White struggles to obtain a lasting advantage at master level but you can use it to good effect.

You can play the Carrera Gambit with 3.Qe2. You are placing the Queen on the same file as the enemy King. You do this anticipating an imminent pawn break which will open the file.

This is a flexible opening with many possible positions coming about in the opening. The advantage can be the discomfort on the enemy King which may in some cases induce a weakness.

On the other hand Black may deflect your threat easily enough. If e2 turns out to be the wrong square for the Queen, you've lost a tempo for nothing. In such cases Black may well steal the initiative.

The Falkbeer Countergambit is the one potent way to decline the Kings Gambit. It has many of the characteristics of White's Albin-Counter Gambit. Black is playing this a move behind.

The chief advantage of playing the Falkbeer is that it rules out many of White's hoped for lines when opting for the Kings Gambit in the first place.

Black actually ends up gambitting a pawn in the center. It is you (as Black) who will gain the early initiative and the early pressure. White can very easily fall victim due to his exposed King and weak center. If he does not find the right response to the Falkbeer you can win quickly.

The Charousek Gambit is reached when you sacrifice your d-pawn with 6.Qe2. When Black takes with 6...Qxd5 you play for a lead in development by 7.Nc3 trying to steal a tempo from the Queen. Black will respond with 7...Bb4 pinning the Knight.

A tactical arm wrestle will follow with you trying to prove that your sacrifice was justified. Black will try to show that it wasn't. The Queens are often exchanged and the game can evolve into a tense positional affair.

This opening has been seen fairly regularly at 2000 and above level in the last 20 years. Black's best bet is to accept the gambit where White still wins almost half the time. Any other move has not been successful for Black.

The Morphy Gambit sees you pass up 5...exd3 in favor of 5...Bb4. What purpose does this move have? You get a lot of play against White's central King.

You can subject White to a series of uncomfortable pins. You're hoping that he does not maneuver expertly under the strain of your pins. It's difficult to suppress the irritation of one pin after another. All White wants to do is complete development and get his King away to safety on the wing.

If he plays one slight inaccuracy as you line up one attacking piece after another the pressure can spiral. His pieces will end up in knots and you can force either heavy material losses or a structural weakness on him in exchange for his immediate survival.

The Adelaide Gambit is an option for you to decline if you feel like a fight. You open up the road to your King in a very sharp battle plan that encourages tactical duels.

White most often accepts with 4.exf5 in this position and the stats are okay for Black. Other moves such as 4.d3, 4.d4, 4.Nc3 or 4.Bc4 have also been played. None of these have been remarkably successful.

The Main Line continues 4...e4 attacking the f3-Knight. When 5.Ne5 is played you simply reply with 5...Nf6 with a solid position and a safe King in the opening.