KGD--The Falkbeer Counter Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5

The strongest way to play against the King's Gambit is with the Falkbeer Counter Gambit according to the statistics. In fact, if played properly, Black can equalize. So we see that the Falkbeer is in fact the "bust" of the King's gambit sought after by Bobby Fischer and not Fischer's own Fischer Defense. Actual statistics show that the Fischer variation is actually better for White than the Falkbeer. Here Black is trying to take the tempo and catch white off guard. To do this Black offers one of his pawns up and hopes to free up his pieces. Keep in mind that the statistics refer to master games and that this is a very tricky opening full of tricks and traps. And as with all open games the victory usually goes to the best tactician. Here is the line that seems to be statistically best for White but it can be played by Black just as well since it leads to equality:


[Event "Edited game"] [Site "SPEEDY"] [Date "2007.10.22"] [Round "-"] [White "-"] [Black "-"] [Result "*"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nd2 exd3 6. Bxd3 Nxd5 7. Qf3 Nc6 8. a3 Nd4 *

More Sample Games


[Event "unknown"] [Site "unknown"] [Date "1620.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Gioachino Greco"] [Black "NN"] [ECO "C31"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "19"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qe6 5. Nf3 exf4+ 6. Kf2 Bc5+ 7. d4 Bd6 8. Bb5+ Kf8 9. Re1 Qf5 10. Re8# 1-0


[Event "Berlin"] [Site "Berlin"] [Date "1864.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Adolf Anderssen"] [Black "Emil Schallopp"] [ECO "C31"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "27"] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe5 Bd6 5.Bc4 Bxe5 6.fxe5 Qd4 7.Qe2 Qxe5 8.d4 Qxd4 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Be3 Qd8 11.O-O h6 12.Bc5 Nbd7 13.Qxe4+ Nxe4 14.Bxf7# 1-0


[Event "Reykjavik op19"] [Site "ISL"] [Date "2000.04.09"] [EventDate "2000.04.05"] [Round "5"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Remi Soupizon"] [Black "Erlingur Thorsteinsson"] [ECO "C32"] [WhiteElo "2066"] [BlackElo "2160"] [PlyCount "33"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4 Nxe4 6. Be3 Qh4+ 7. g3 Nxg3 8. Nf3 Qe7 9. hxg3 Qxe3+ 10. Qe2 Bc5 11. Nbd2 Bg4 12. O-O-O O-O 13. Qh2 h6 14. Re1 Qf2 15. Bg2 Bd6 16. Ne4 Qb6 17. Nf6+ 1-0


[Event "USSR-ch"] [Site "USSR-ch"] [Date "1988.??.??"] [EventDate "1988.??.??"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Rashad Babaev"] [Black "Moskoviev"] [ECO "C32"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "15"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bf5 6. dxe4 Bxe4 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Qb5+ 1-0


[Event "Paris m/1"] [Site "Paris m/1"] [Date "1985.??.??"] [EventDate "1985.??.??"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Nicole Tagnon"] [Black "Jojic"] [ECO "C32"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "15"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4 Nxe4 6. Nf3 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bc5 8. Qa4+ 1-0 More Games

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