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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4/2...Bc5

< Chess Opening Theory | 1. e4 | 1...e5 | 2. f4
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King's Gambit Declined
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black kingg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black bishopd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 white pawng4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 black kingg2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

rnbqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/2b1p3/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w

Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5

King's Gambit Declined

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Black declines the gambit the so called "Classical" way by developing his king's bishop to c5. On c5, it prevents white from castling by having him to slow his tempo to shift the bishop or block its diagonal (for example, white will have to play Nc3 followed by Na4 or c3 followed by d4). Nevertheless, white gets a small advantage with correct play. The main replies to the Classical Variation include:

  • A very important note: White can't accept the pawn and play 3. fxe5??, because of 3...Qh4+! 4. g3 leading to the loss of a rook (attempting to hang onto the rook with 4. Ke2?? leads to 4...Qxe4#).
  • 3. Nf3, is the most obvious option, preventing the queen from coming to h4 and readying fxe5. From here, black has multiple replies, including 3...d6 or 3...Nf6, from where, white can get ready to gain a tempo on the bishop via c3 then d4. 3...exf4?! is unsound because of 4. d4!, pushing the bishop out. The queen can't come to h4, so white gets an advantage due to the imposing center on d4 and e4. Note that after 4. d4, black can't play 4...Bb4+, because 5. c3! only strengthens white's center AND gains a tempo on the bishop.
  • 3. Bc4 looks good at first right, but is somewhat unsound after 3...d5! 4. Bxd5 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nxd5 6. exd5 e4 7. d4 Bb4+ 8. c3 exf3 9. cxb4 fxg2 10. Qe2+ Qe7 11. Qxe7+ Kxe7 12. Rg1 Bh3.


Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
King's Gambit Declined Nf3
d6		 Nc3
Nf6		 Bc4
Nc6		 d3
Bg4		 Na4
O-O		 +=
King's Gambit Declined Bc4
d5		 Bxd5
Nf6		 Nf3
Nxd5		 exd5
e4		 d4
Bb4+		 c3
exf3		 cxb4
fxg2		 Qe2+
Qe7		 Qxe7+
Kxe7		 Rg1
Bh3		 =/+

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References

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Wikipedia has related information at King's Gambit

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