King's Gambit Accepted

In the King's Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4, White gives a pawn for a fast attack on the f-file and against f7. Black can try to keep the pawn with ...g5, return it with ...d5, or develop quickly with ...Nf6 and ...d6. The positions are sharp, both kings are exposed, and the bishop on c4 makes f7 a target in almost every line.

That is also why the most common white mistake is a sacrifice on f7 that does not work. In the Bishop's Gambit, after 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.Nf3 Qg4, White plays 6.Bxf7+? hoping to drag the king out, but after 6...Kxf7 the attack has no second wave. The same error appears after 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 exf4 4.Bc4 Bb4 5.Bxf7+? Kxf7, and in the Hanstein line 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.O-O Nh6 6.d4 d6 7.Bxf7+? Nxf7, where the knight on h6 was put there exactly to cover f7.

Black's worst mistake is a pawn move. In the Kieseritzky, after 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 d5 5.Nxg5, the natural-looking 5...f6?? opens the h5-e8 diagonal: 6.Qh5+ Kd7 7.Nf7 and Black is lost. In the King's Gambit, ...f6 is almost never playable while the white queen can still reach h5.

In a related move order, 2.Bc4 f5 3.f4 exf4 4.e5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1, Black develops with 5...Bc5?, but 6.d4 hits the bishop with tempo and wins material.

The King's Gambit Accepted study covers the main lines and the Muzio and Kieseritzky gambits. The puzzles below train the decisive question of this opening: is the attack on f7 real, or only hope?