King's Gambit

Uncommon card · No. 178193

The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert Black's e-pawn from the center. If Black accepts the gambit, White will usually target the weak square f7, defended only by the king. A downside to the King's Gambit is that it weakens White's own king's position. Black can also decline the gambit, usually by the Falkbeer Countergambit (2...d5) or the Classical Defense (2...Bc5). The King's Gambit is one of the oldest documented openings, appearing in the earliest of chess books, Luis Ramírez de Lucena's Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez (1497). It was examined by the 17th-century Italian chess player Giulio Cesare Polerio. It is considered an opening characteristic of Romantic chess, known for giving rise to extremely sharp and unusual positions. It was one of the most popular openings until the late 19th century, when improvements in defensive technique led to a decline in popularity.

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