The King

This can turn into a very quick win for black. The king's gambit is 1. e4, e5 2. f4. He still holds the option to take the pawn at any time, but he shouldn't if he already chose not to.

The King's Gambit Declined

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The only good way to decline the king's gambit is 2. Bc5. If 3. pxp??, Qh4+!! White has a choice of losing a rook (g3) or checkmate (Ke2). However, more commonly, you will see 3. Nf3 if you decline the gambit. The best move here is 4. d6. This doesn't block the bishop. Look to the left and you will see the position with white to move. White can play 5. pxp, pxp. But still, white cannot take with the knight because of the checkmate threat / rook fork by Qh4+!! The best way to refute the gambit might just be Bc5.

The point of the king's gambit is for both positional clearing and for fast attacks on f7. However, these can very easily turn into fast attacks on f2 also. The main line for the king's gambit is 1. e4, e5 2. f4, pxp 3. Nf3. White can also choose Bc4 to make a flight square for the king. The recommended move for white is Nf3 (actually it is not to do the king's gambit in the first place) to keep the queen off of h4. If white plays d4 immediately, Qh4 is very awkward.

Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky in a tournament round and lost to the king's gambit. Infuriated by this, he wrote an article called "A Bust to the King's Gambit" which showed every weakness to it. Because of this article, the king's gambit disappeared from grand master play since it was written even though Fischer never won a game against it in tournament play.

The King's Gambit Accepted

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To the left is a person inexperienced in the king's gambit. He played d4 immediately and paid the price. Don't be that guy. Don't even play the king's gambit. Many people say that the best way to refute the gambit is to accept it. After 3. Nf3, Black has a variety of choices. There are about 10 famous choices, but This site covers only one which leads to the Muzio Gambit if white so chooses. 3. g5 4. Bc4, g4. The position you should have reached is down and to the left.

Muzio Gambit

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White has 2 choices here. One is to simply move the knight. The other is, believe it or not, to castle! This would be offering the Muzio gambit by 5. 0-0, pxN. This actually leads to more wins for white than you would think. 6. Qxp. The reasoning for this is to make a fast attack on f7. Do you notice that white developed a rook, a queen and a bishop where black developed nothing? Paul Morphy came up with this gambit and defeated his opponent very quickly. He was famous for developing his pieces rapidly and making short games like the Opera House Massacre.

There are many variations to the king's gambit, most of which lead to success for black. This is why it is a BAD OPENING!! The suggested move in response to f4 is Bc4. This is a better developing move and cannot block the light bishop if d6 is necessary.