Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4/2...exf4/3. Nf3/3...g5/4. h4

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< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e5‎ | 2. f4‎ | 2...exf4‎ | 3. Nf3‎ | 3...g5
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King's Knight Gambit
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 white pawn4
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 black king2
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
Common moves:
4...g4 - only move

Black's g-pawn is attacked, and the only move that saves it is 4...g4.

  • 4...f6 simply loses the pawn to 5.Nxg5! since 5...fxg5 6.Qh5+ Ke7 7.Qxg5+ Nf6 8.e5 is just carnage.
  • 4...h6 is also no defence against 5.hxg5 pinning the h6-pawn.
  • 4...gxh4 leaves Black with the world's most ridiculous pawn structure: doubled isolated pawns on f4, h4, f7 and h7. White doesn't even have to capture them right away; she can play something like 5.d4 if she wants to laugh at them a little longer.
  • 4...Bh6 or 4...Be7 followed by 5.hxg5 Bxg5 6.d4! allows White to win the f-pawn back with the move g3 while remaining ahead in development.

Rather than saving g-pawn, Black can counter-attack in the center with 4... d5 so that White's taking g-pawn is followed by Black's taking e-pawn: 5. Nxg5 h6 6. Nh3 dxe4.

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. h4

4 5
Main Line ...
g4
Ne5
Nf6

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References[edit | edit source]