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The King's Gambit is an opening where white sacrifices a pawn in order to gain control of the center and open the f-file for his rook. Playing this opening, white breaks a golden rule of chess which is not to push the f, g or h pawn without good reason. Although white develops a good position and sometimes a strong attack, he does so at enormous risk.
The King's Gambit is the sharpest double edged sword in chess. To play it is sort of a statement of wreckless abandon because King's Gambit games definately lead to swashbuckling fights with a lot of excitement. Many unclear positions arise in a King's Gambit.
Players who play the King's Gambit in tournament have a "swashbuckler" image.
The King's Gambit, played at the higher levels, proves audacity and a "no-fear" approach to the game.
The King's Gambit was played extensively in the Romantic Era. Morphy, Anderrsen, Steinitz, Pillsbury, Miesses, all had the King's Gambit in their repoirtoire. In fact, many of the most famous games of that time including Anderssen's "Immortal Game" were in fact King's Gambits.
Modern Day "Swashbucklers" (Modern GM's Who have used the King's Gambit in tournament play) |
| Bobby Fischer |
| Judit Polgar |
| Boris Spassky (defeats Fischer with KG)) |
| Nigel Short |
| John Nunn |
| Paul Keres |
| David Bronstein |
| Significant Moments in King's Gambit History |
|
| 1561 | Ruy Lopez mentions it in his writings 1561 |
| 1590 | Polerio Plays the first recorded King's Gambit |
| 1851 | Andersson uses the King's Gambit in his "Immortal Game." |
| Morphy uses the King's Gambit often in his short but illustrious chess playing career. | |
Significant moments in the King's Gambit History
Anderssen plays the King's Gambit in the "Immortal Game"
Paul Morphy uses the King's Gambit regularly in his short reign.
King's Gambit is the most popular opening during Romantic era of chess.
Spassky beats Fischer in their first encounter in 1960.
Fischer writes the now famous "Fischer Bust" article. 1961
Judit Polgar uses the KG in tournament for the first time against Flear. 1989