Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4/2...exf4/3. Nf3/3...g5

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King's Gambit Accepted
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black kingh7 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 kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black pawnh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black pawng4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 white knightg3 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 black kingh1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h

Black has put a pawn on g5 to defend f4. Left to her own devices, she could reinforce this pawn with ...h6 and ...Bg7 and turn the f4-pawn into a mighty fortress. If White wants to throw a spanner in the works, the spanner must be thrown immediately, with

This move catches Black on the hop, because g5 is attacked twice and defended only once, and 4...h6? doesn't protect it (5.hxg5 hxg5?? 6.Rxh8 is a disaster). 4...gxh4 would leave Black with three isolated pawns on the kingside. So the pawn will be forced to advance to g4. "Forced" may be too strong a word, because the pawn had ambitions of reaching g4 and kicking the knight as soon as it took off from g7, but there's another crucial idea behind 4.h4: the Black queen can't now take advantage of the knight's disappearance from f3 to deliver check on h4.

  • 4. Bc4 is a move that puts a different sort of question to Black. The g-pawn can now advance to g4 and kick the knight if it wants to - but White plans to carry on developing and allow it to be captured! Is Black prepared to fend off the blistering attack that will ensue, or is she going to leave the g-pawn where it is and reinforce it with ...Bg7 and ...h6?

4. d4 and 4. Nc3 are less common moves, based on a similar idea to 4.Bc4.

Theory table[edit | edit source]

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

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5

4
Paris Attack h4
g4
Ne5
Nf6
Bc4
d5
exd5
Bd6
Quaade Attack Nc3

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