Openings · C30–C39

King's Gambit

A pawn for the centre and the f-file, offered on move two — the oldest attacking opening there is.

1.e4 e5 2.f4played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.e4e5
  2. 2.f4

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

2.f4 offers a pawn to drag the e5 pawn away from the middle, so that d4 comes with tempo and the f-file opens towards f7. Played well it produces the most direct attacking positions in chess. Played hopefully it produces a pawn deficit.

The price is the e1–h4 diagonal. Almost every disaster in this opening is a check on h4 arriving before the knight reaches f3, so the move order is not a detail — it is the opening.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Developing the wrong knight first

After 3…Qh4+
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
The mistake
Answering the accepted gambit with 3.Nc3 rather than 3.Nf3.
Why it costs
3…Qh4+ forces 4.Ke2 — the king walks, castling is gone, and the open f-file White gave a pawn for now points at his own king. There is no compensation for that.
Instead
3.Nf3, which covers h4 and is played in ninety-nine games out of a hundred for exactly that reason. If you want the knight on c3, play it on move four.

Taking on e5 when the gambit is declined

After 4…Qxe4+
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Grabbing the pawn after 2…Bc5, when the bishop already covers g1 and the king has no shelter.
Why it costs
3…Qh4+ 4.g3 Qxe4+ picks up the rook on h1 next, because 5.Qe2 Qxh1 is simply winning. The bishop on c5 is what makes the whole sequence work, and it was there before the pawn was taken.
Instead
3.Nf3, hitting the queen's square before she gets to it. The Classical Defence is met by developing, not by counting pawns.

The Allgaier knight, played without the sacrifice

After 5…h6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Jumping to g5 rather than e5, and then having second thoughts.
Why it costs
5.Ng5 commits you: after 5…h6 the knight has nowhere to go, and 6.Nxf7 — a piece for a pawn and a king dragged out — is the only reason the move exists. A player who did not intend that sacrifice has just lost a knight.
Instead
5.Ne5, the Kieseritzky, which keeps the knight, the attack and the material balance. Play the Allgaier only if you have looked at 6.Nxf7 at home.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 33games end with White giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.
  • 1 in 63games end with White getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.

From 3,868 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e5 2.f4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. exf4-0.5
  2. d5-0.2
  3. Bc5-0.1
  4. Nc6-0.0
  5. d6+0.0
  6. c6+0.1

The engine's main line from exf4: exf4 Nf3 g5 Nc3 d6 g3 Nc6 d4.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Analyse a game you played in itAll openings