(Items in Italics not included in this online version. Page numbers refer to the printed book.)

1 Kieseritzky Gambit 4 h4 g4 5 Ne5 7

2 Allgaier Gambit 4 h4 g4 5 Ng5 15

3 Blachy Defense 4 Bc4 Nc6!? 23

6 Mason(3 Nc3)& Quaade(4 Nc3)Gambits 49

7 Bishop’s Gambit 3 Bc4 54

11 Breyer Gambit 3 Qf3 70

In many conversations with chessplayers, I have noted a reluctance to answer 1 e4 by 1…e5 based on an irrational fear of some deviations from the standard Spanish or Italian play. Often people will admit that the Ponziani, Scotch, various central gambits, and Vienna game are hardly frightening "…but what about the King’s Gambit!" This venerable opening seems to scare the pants off of some tournament players, for reasons which are not particularly clear. If, in turn, one suggests that the pawn can simply be eaten with relish (mustard, ketchup, or what have you), a look of horror crosses the face of the interlocutor.

Why this fear? Probably because we all grow up seeing the brilliant games of the leading exponents of the King’s Gambit, and do not wish to fall prey to a Morphy-like combination. Every effort is made to side-step the gambit, even though virtually all authorities agree that one must accept the gambit or concede a positional superiority for White.

This book is offered as a remedy to the problem. Here you will find that not only can the pawn be seized at the second turn, but that in many cases Black can become the aggressor in the game. Not that the King’s Gambit is unsound - not by any means! There is a bit of theory to be learned, and a mistake in the first ten moves or so can prove fatal. But in the end it is much easier to achieve a good game with Black in the King’s Gambit than it is in most other open games.

This book shows you exactly what you need to accept the King’s Gambit and live (very comfortably!). In the key main lines the analysis is fairly deep, even though in many cases the best moves for Black have never been played. All minor variations have been covered, even those which are silly at first sight but which sometimes contain more than a drop of venom. In addition, the reader will find many new ideas which will come as an unpleasant shock to the opponent.

In fact, the entire main line defense to 1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 g5 4 Bc4 is based on the little-known move order finesse 4…Nc6!, which avoids the Muzio (-Polerio) Gambit entirely and leads Black into comfortable variations of the Hanstein Defense. So the reader who has carefully studied the material in this book will be better prepared than his opponent, in many cases, and will have in his arsenal some new weapons which may cause a lot of trouble for White.

In so far as possible, complete games are presented, showing how the positional advantages obtained by Black can be turned into full points. There is often very little practical material on some of the obscure lines, and that is why many people like to choose those lines as White. To avoid the "Gee, I didn’t look at that!" syndrome, all minor lines have been given sufficient prominence that they will not be overloooked when studying the defenses required. True, one is unlikely to encounter 3 Qe2 in tournament play, but a well-prepared player should not be seeing the move for the first time!

One would think, then, that this volume is aimed at practical tournament players rated about 1600-2000. I think that the basic attacking and defending strategies will enhance the play of even lower rated players, while stronger players may find the new ideas to be of interest. In any case, whatever the rating, the reader will benefit from having chased the ghosts of the great King’s Gambiteers out of the mansion of their opening repertoire, and will be able to answer 1 e4 with 1…e5, confident that 2 f4 will only improve their winning prospects.

The most complete source of material on the various King’s Gambit lines is the series of books edited by Colin Leach. These books contain hundreds of complete games with annotations and other citations. Much of the material used in this book was derived from these works, and the reader is urged to acquire them for the sheer pleasure of playing through the games.

Unfortunately, there is a serious flaw in Mr. Leach’s work - the failure to cite sources for most of his analysis. Therefore some of the material in this book will not bear the correct attribution, as I have made no effort to comb through the literature to secure this historical information. My apologies to any chessplayer, living or dead, whose inspiration is not properly credited. In any event, the books are simply a treasure trove of fascinating chess, and I strongly recommend them to all lovers of the romantic style of chess represented by the King’s Gambit.

I have also consulted standard reference works on the King’s Gambit, Joe Gallagher’s recent treatise, the book by Korchnoi & Zak and the the two volume set by Estrin & Glazkov. These works do a better job of crediting analysis and I have tried to use them to remedy the defective scholarship of Leach’s works.

In addition, articles by S. Bücker in M.O.B. and a number of older works on the King’s Gambit have been checked to see if any interesting ideas have fallen through the cracks. The book by Christiansen et al. is written from White’s point of view and in this book remedies are provided for all of their suggested lines.

It must be kept in mind that this is a volume intended for practical application, and not a historical survey of the King’s Gambit Accepted. There will no doubt be readers whose zeal for correcting the historical record is sufficient to warrant pointing out the mistakes and oversights which appear in this volume, and I would be most grateful to anyone who can supply correct credits for the analysis quoted in this book.

For this new edition I have added many games not previously available to me. I compiled a database of about 10,000 King’s Gambit games, allowing me to locate many interesting examples. I haven’t had to change any of the recommended lines, because all have held up well in the past seven years. I did revise a fair bit of the analysis, checking some highly tactical lines with computer programs Zarkov and King.

This book is more of a solo effort than most, and it remains only to thank Gabe Kahane, for entering the material from the first edition into ChessBase, Tom Magar for his customary excellent job of proofreading the manuscript, and Bob Dudley for giving me permission to write on such an esoteric topic.

If the reader is fortunate enough to apply the material in this work with success, I will be very happy to receive copies of the games. Even if victory eludes the reader, I would still like to see the game. Please send all communication via email to author@chessworks.com or with snail mail to P.O. Box 1048, El Granada, CA 94018.