We might agree that …Qd8-h4+ — the first obstacle on the way to White’s positional goals — is a high hurdle: Meeting the check by interposition (3. Qf3, 3. Nh3) or flight (3. Bc4, 3. Nc3, 3. d4, oddballs) has definite disadvantages (leaving White the plan to capture the checking piece rather than interposing or fleeing).
The Bishop’s Gambit is White’s best shot at a compromise between sharp provocation and relative king safety, but it can be difficult to develop the king rook.
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]{ <sub><em>Click or tap on a move in the game text for a popout display board.</em></sub></br>}1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 {[#]}*
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Unlike 4. Ke2 and 4. Kd2, 4. Kf1 preserves the mobility for queen and bishop, while f1 is a safe flight square compared to e2 and d2. The king rook can be shut out, though.
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"][Site "Breslau"][Date "1876"][White "F. Riemann"][Black "A. Anderssen"]{[#]}
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 d5{</br> A good recipe for Black: Challenge the center, and if White opts for 5. Bxd5 (5.exd5 blocks the bishop), Black will threaten to take the bishop.</br>}
5. Bxd5 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4{[#]}
7. e5({</br>
R. Spielmann, a leading proponent of the King’s Gambit, sacrificed a rook in exchange for a strong center and development: } 7. Bb3 Nc6 8. Nf3 Qh5 9. e5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Ne4 11. d4 Ng3+ 12. Kg1 Nxh1 13. Bxf4{, 1-0 in 35, Spielmann-Jacobsen, Copenhagen 1923.</br>})
7...Bxc3 8. exf6 Bxf6 9. Nf3 Qh5 10. Qe2+ Kd8 11. Qc4 Re8{</br>
Compare the activity of the king rooks.</br>}
12. Bxf7? Qxf3+! 13. gxf3 Bh3+ 14. Kf2
({</br> }14. Kg1 Re1+ 15. Kf2 Bh4#{. </br>})
14...Bh4+ 15. Kg1 Re1+ 16. Qf1 Rxf1# 0-1 *
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For displaying the h1-rook’s frustration in the Bishop’s Gambit, Riemann-Anderssen is like a 30-second commercial, whereas Hromadka-Spielmann is like a movie.
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"][Site "Baden bei Wien"][Date "1914"][White "K. Hromadka"][Black "R. Spielmann"]{[#]}
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 d5 5. Bxd5 Ne7 6. Nc3 Nxd5 7. Nxd5 Bd6 8. d4 c6 9. Nf3 Qh6 10. Nc3({</br> For knocking out the f4-pawn, there’s } 10. e5 cxd5 11. exd6 Qxd6 {(11…O-O is more secure)} 12. Qe2+ Be6 13. Qe5{. </br>})10...f6 11. Ne2 g5 {</br> A Bishop’s Gambit bad dream. The white knights have no forward motion, the queen bishop has only the sad Bc1-d2, and the rooks are trapped.</br>}12. h4 Bg4 13. Kf2{</br> Connects queen and rook, unpins the h4-pawn.</br>}13...Qg7 14. Qd3 Nd7 15. Bd2 O-O-O 16. b4 h6{</br> Additional support for g5, so the queen can tend to other matters.</br>}17. a4 Bh5{</br> Threatening 18…g4 19. Ne1 Ne5!, when 20. dxe5 Bxe5 wins material, or the knight springs to g6 to bind the kingside.</br>}18. hxg5 hxg5{[#]}
19. Qc4 g4{</br>
Black leads in the castled-on-opposite-wings race, but if he falters, White’s attack is broader because it extends to the center.</br>}20. Bxf4(
{</br>
Black wins on } 20. Ne1 g3+ { (because the capture …Bh5xe2 hits the queen and discovers an attack. For example:) } 21. Kg1 Bxe2 22. Qxe2 Rxh1+ 23. Kxh1 Qh6+ 24. Kg1 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Qh1#{. </br>})20...gxf3 21. gxf3 Bf7{</br> Having won a piece, Black begins simplifying.</br>}
22. Qc3 Bxf4 23. Nxf4
{[#]}23...Rxh1{</br> The original king rook never moved because there was no space. Its replacement never moved because there was no time.</br>}
24. Rxh1 Rg8 25. b5
{</br>
Moving the knight runs into 25…Qg2+. Guarding the knight is like resigning.</br>}
25...Qg3+ 26. Ke3 Nb6
{</br>
Threatening 27…Nc4+ to dislodge the white king from its guard of f4. </br>}
27. d5 Bxd5! 28. Qxf6 (
{</br> A lovely king hunt: }
28.Nxd5 (28.exd5 Qxf4+ 29.Kxf4 Nxd5+ -+)Nxd5+ 29.exd5 Re8+ 30.Kd4 Qf4+ 31.Kc5 b6+ 32.Kxc6 Qc7#{.</br>}) 28...Re8 29.Qf5+ Kb8 30.Nxd5 Nxd5+ 31.Kd3 Rd8 0-1 *
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[Event "Simultaneous exhibition"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "1924.10.11"]
[White "J.R. Capablanca"]
[Black "A.H. Beckman"][FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]{[#]}
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 d5 ({</br> friscodelrosario=engbegoo, online 2020: }3...Qh4+ 4. Kf1 g5 5. Nc3 c6 6. g3 {Too soon for
such a commitment. Especially since Black weakened d6, then e4-e5 is the move,
making space for Nc3-e4 on the way to d6 or to help coordinate against g5.}
fxg3 7. Kg2 Qh6 8. hxg3 Qg7 9. d4 d6 10. Nge2 {Stockfish has a fine idea for
anticipating the pin ….Bc8-g4: 9. Qh5 completely avoids it while coming
to bear on f7.} h5 11. Rf1 f6 12. Be3 {Stockfish said White should still be
aiming for e4-e5, so recommends 12. Bxg8, after which …d6-d5 won’t hit a
bishop. That’s not a move a human player considers.} Nh6 13. e5 Ng4 14. Qd2
dxe5 15. Ne4 Be7 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Bb3 {17. Qd4, pinning.} h4 18. Nd6+ (18.
Rxf6 Bxf6 19. Nd6+ {is wild.}) 18... Bxd6 19. Qxd6 Bg4 20. Rxf6 Nbd7 21. Nd4
Qxf6 {0-1 </br>}) 4. Bxd5 Qh4+ 5. Kf1 g5 {</br> Black has done all the right things,
in my opinion: …d7-d5 enables his queenside development, and draws the white
bishop to an uncomfortable square; …g7-g5 hinders White’s queenside
development, and if kingside castling were in White’s plans, the f4-pawn would
block that rook, too. But 3…Qh4+ 4.Kf1 disabled White’s kingside, and this
section is about the king rook’s troubles.</br>} 6. Nc3 Bg7 {</br> Almost always the best
diagonal for that bishop when Black plays …g7-g5, especially when White
places a knight on c3 instead of a pawn.</br>} 7. d4 Ne7 {</br> This is the preferred
development for the king knight. The white bishop is under pressure, the black
bishop is unblocked, and the knight can move to g6 next to support the critical
f4-g5 structure. Black is playing very, very well. We know next-to-nothing
about August H. Beckman. Born in the 1870s, Beckman grew up in Germantown, Penn., where
he was considered a prodigy (according to a newspaper account of a Steinitz
exhibition), lived in New Jersey as an adult, played lots of correspondence
chess. We know of three of Beckman’s games, one of which is a win against
Capablanca.</br>} 8. g3 {</br> Tchigorin’s idea for unraveling the
kingside. This kind of self-inflicted damage to one’s king position is kind of
a drastic measure, but like I said, Black has done everything right, and White
suspected so.</br>} 8... fxg3 9. Kg2 Nxd5 {</br> White’s on thin ice. The e4-pawn is
skewered along the rank, while the knight is tied to its defense. Six of
White’s nine moves have been with pawns or king, which sounds like a recipe for
disaster, but that’s the nature of the King’s Gambit: White gambles, betting on
the long-term prospects paying off against short-term concessions. Sometimes
Black plays well enough to prevent the long game from fruition.</br>} 10. hxg3 $4 (
{</br> Black has a material edge after} 10. exd5 gxh2 11. Rxh2 Qxd4 12. Qxd4 Bxd4 13.
Bxg5 Rg8 14. Re1+ Kf8 15. Nf3 Bf6 {, but White’s fully developed with greater
central influence.</br>} ) 10... Nxc3 {</br> This is resignable, but exhibitors want to be
most certain. They’d prefer to win on every board, and if a game goes south,
the amateur has to prove it beyond doubt.</br>} 11. bxc3 Qxe4+ 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. Re1 {
</br> White manages to activate the troublesome rook, only to lose it right off.</br>}
13... Bxf3+ 14. Qxf3 Qxe1 15. Bxg5 Qe6 ( {</br> Black survives to see a winning
position after} 15... Qxa1 16. Qe4+ Kf8 (16... Kd7 17. Qe7+ Kc8 18. Qxf7 Rf8 $1
) 17. Qe7+ Kg8 18. Qe8+ Bf8 19. Bh6 Nd7 20. Qxa8 {, but it isn’t necessary to
think that much.</br>} ) 16. d5 Qe5 17. Bf4 Qe7 18. Qd3 Nd7 19. d6 cxd6 20. Bxd6 Qe6
21. Kf2 {</br> That’s a bit of Morphy, an unafraid king move to help bring the last
piece to its best file. White is very much lost, but the move still strikes me
as characteristic.</br>} 21... O-O-O 22. Re1 Ne5 {</br> Wins at least the pinned bishop,
and the exhibitor has seen enough.</br>} 0-1 *
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