King's Gambit: Bishop's Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ · C33
Part of King's Gambit Accepted
Starting positionWhite to move
0 / 12
Kf1 is a real move, not a disaster
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The idea
White develops the bishop before the knight, hitting f7 immediately and accepting the queen check on h4 in return for a lead in development.
Main line: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.Nf3 Qh5 6.d4 Bg4
What White wants
- Develop the bishop to c4 and answer ...Qh4+ with Kf1
- Push d4 to build a big centre and open lines
- Attack f7 and h7 before Black can castle
What Black wants
- Play ...Qh4+ at once to disrupt White's castling
- Return the pawn with ...d5 to catch up in development
- Keep the queen active and aim at the exposed white king
Key idea
Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.
Kf1 is a real move, not a disaster
Losing castling looks terrible, but the king on f1 is not actually easy to attack and White gets the whole centre. The bishop on c4 hitting f7 matters more than the king's address.
Common mistake
Forgetting what Kf1 cost. White has given up the right to castle, so the game has to be decided by d4, Bxf4 and e5 arriving quickly — if the play slows down, the king on f1 matters far more than the pawn.
Representative position
The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.
rn2kbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/7q/2BPPpb1/5N2/PPP3PP/RNBQ1K1R w kq - 1 7
Analyze this position