The Kings Gambit

Last year at the Norway Chess Master Tournament, there was a very important game for all lovers of the King’s Gambit. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi used the King’s Gambit to defeat none other than the current world chess prodigy GM Alireza Firouzja.
Nepomniachtchi is one of the most important elite players to have played the King’s Gambit in recent years. And it is incredible to see how this Gambit has stood the test of time. Renowned authors have written “refutations against this gambit” in their books. And, coincidentally, one of the recommended modern lines for Black is the one you will see in the game below.
However, everything seems to indicate that despite Black’s efforts to “punish” the king’s gambit, White is OK. And, at the end of the day, both players will have to play a sharp and complex game, in many cases when it’s not to the liking of all the black players. It seems that the King’s Gambit is far from being refuted and will never die!
This article is not only aimed at lovers and practitioners of the King’s Gambit. If you are someone who is starting in chess or if you do not have the king’s gambit incorporated in your repertoire, but you want to incorporate it, the following article is also for you.
Before we check at Nepomniachtchi’s King’s Gambit as the key game of this article, let’s first take a quick look at some aspects of the King’s Gambit.

Is the King’s Gambit a Good Chess Opening?

Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit
There are different opinions about whether the King’sGambit is a good opening or not. As chess players, we must always objectively analyze the positions. There are pros and cons when playing the King’s Gambit, and I present them to you below.

Pros

https://chess-teacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/arrow-gfa7254dd9_1280-300x159.png1. The King’s Gambit Can Be a Surprise Opening
The King’s Gambit has more than 300 years of existence! How can it be a surprise weapon? This seems like a complete lie, but it is not. Incredibly, today a lot of beginners and intermediate players do not know what to do with the King’s Gambit. This is because they don’t have a clear repertoire against this aggressive gambit. This gives you a huge advantage over them.

2. The King’s Gambit Is a Very Forcing and Sharp Opening

This comes to complement the previous point. Many of the lines played in the King’s Gambit are forced. This means that if your opponent is not well prepared against this gambit, he has a very good chance of performing very bad in the game.

3. The King’s Gambit Favors Tactical Players

If you are a tactical player, the King’s Gambit may be the ideal opening for you. The sacrifices, tactical blows, and attacks are typical of this gambit.4. It Can Be Useful in a Must-win Situation
Sometimes, when we need to play to win a critical game, this gambit can be an excellent choice. This is because it unbalances the game a lot and keeps open the possibility of playing for the 3 results.

4. It Can Be Useful in a Must-win Situation

Sometimes, when we need to play to win a critical game, this gambit can be an excellent choice. This is because it unbalances the game a lot and keeps open the possibility of playing for the 3 results.

Cons

https://chess-teacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/risk-g1119b5f64_640-300x300.png

1. Your King Will Be More Exposed

In many positions, the white king has a hard time dealing with the fact that he is at the center of the board.

2. You Must Be Prepared to Give Material and Often Not Get It Back

As mentioned above, in the King’s Gambit, sacrifices are very common. However, many times, the compensation for the sacrificed material is merely positional. And it is that the King’s Gambit is not for the faint of heart.

3. You Will Have to Face a Great Diversity of Responses from Black.

Who said it would be an easy thing to play the King’s Gambit? Black can either accept the gambit, decline it, or counterattack it (that is, they will be the ones to sacrifice a pawn). White must be well prepared against all these lines.

4. It’s a Risky Opening

Some players feel that playing the King’s Gambit is like stepping on a minefield! The King’s Gambit may not be the most appropriate choice when we want to secure a draw, for example.

Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Firouzja, Alireza

Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit

Nepomniachtchi’s King’s Gambit Starts

The game started with a King’s Gambit Accepted. 1. e4 e5 2. f4!? exf4 3. Nf3. This move, together with 3. Bc4 constitute the most important lines of the King’s Gambit.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit: The game starts.
3...Nf6!? This move is one of the modern ways to play against the King’s Gambit and has been recommended by numerous authors. Black decides to develop a piece and, at the same time, attack the pawn on e4. This idea is different from the line with 3...g5, which leads to another type of game, also quite complex. The difference between both moves is that with Nf6, Black does not compromise his kingside at the moment.
White played 4. e5, which is a forced move, since instead 4.Nc3 was played, then we could appreciate another advantage of Nf6, which is the possibility of playing *4...d5!*with which Black would be slightly better.
The game continued with 4...Nh5. And well, they say that a knight on the edge of the board is bad, right? However, in this position, the knight defends Black’s extra pawn and, since they do not have any weakness, it is White who must show compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
5. d4 d6 6. Qe2! A move that not only aims for the 0-0-0 later but it also has some tactical poison. Now *6...Be7??*would be a terrible blunder due to the continuation 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. Qb5!+, with a double attack on the black king and the knight on h5.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit: The game starts.
6..dxe5 7. Nxe5
An important moment has arrived. Black has to deal with 2 strong threats. First, to defend the knight on h5 and, second, to cover his king from the Nc6+ move, winning the black queen.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit

Forced Line

Black must play 7...Qh4+ in a forced way. And now Nepo played 8. g3! The 8. Kd1? move leads nowhere as the white king would be exposed in the center of the board. White is committed to sacrificing material but, at the same time, compensating for it, based on the activity and coordination of his centralized pieces.
8...Nxg3 9. hxg3 Qxh1 10. Bxf4! It would be a mistake to be greedy after 10.Ng6+?, winning material. White must prioritize his development and, above all, secure his king to later initiate offensive actions.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit

Critical Moment

The critical moment has arrived. Black must decide how to continue because there are several possibilities, and it is difficult to assess which is better or worse. Here the correct move according to Nepo himself is the cold-blooded move 10...Bd6!, although also 10...Bb4!? or 10...Be7!? would be reasonable alternatives.
However, here Alireza played what might seem a natural move or at least equivalent to the other candidate moves already named, 10...Be6?? And, incredibly this move constitutes a terrible blunder!!
But why? Well, it turns out that the bishop on e6 is badly placed since in some lines the bishop would have to play on h3, looking for the exchange of the light-squared bishops and giving way to the black queen. White’s plan is simple: he must play 0-0-0 and Bg2 to win Black’s queen.
11. Nc3 g5?!
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit: Critical moment
A move that reflects that there is something wrong with Black’s position. Alireza seeks to generate some kind of counterplay along the g-file by sacrificing a pawn. Black’s position is difficult and other continuations are probably not much more encouraging either.
Here Nepo chooses to play dynamically 12. d5!? The game continued with 12...gxf4 13. dxe6 Bd6?
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit
Black finally develops his king’s bishop. However, the 13...Bh6 move was better, with which they would be preventing at least White’s long castling. Black has a losing position now.
14. 0-0-0 Qh6, with a possible threat of f3, later 15. Qb5+ Nc6 16. Nxf7!+-
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit

The Final Part of the Game

Black has several pieces attacked and is not safe. The end of the game was 16...Qxe6 17. Bc4 Qe3+ 18. Kb1 Qc5.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit
19. Nxd6 cxd6 20. Qxb7 Qxc4 21. Qxa8 Nd8. It is interesting to compare the security of both kings. White’s king was fully safeguarded on the queenside, while Black’s king was fully exposed in the middle of the board.
Nepomniachtchi King's Gambit
22. Re1+ Kf7 23. Qxa7+ Kg6 24. gxf4 Qc5 25. Rg1+
1-0

Conclusion

We can conclude that the blunder that made Black lose was 10...Be6?? Black couldn’t recover from there. Nepomniachtchi’s King’s Gambit demonstrates to be a hard nut to crack.
It is really surprising to see that a player as strong as Alireza was totally out of the game in just 10 moves! Now the question would be, will your opponent be able to survive against the king’s gambit?