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King's Gambit

An attacking gambit in which White offers the f-pawn to undermine Black's center and gain open lines and initiative.

C30 ECO Intermediate Side: White
Reference line

Position after the reference line

1. e4 e5 2. f4

Key ideas

  1. Deflect the e5-pawn and open the f-file.
  2. Develop rapidly and value time over immediate pawn recovery.
  3. Build an attack if Black's king remains in the center.

Typical plan

Use the initiative to develop with threats, and calculate carefully before exposing the king further.

Watch for

If the initiative fades, White may simply remain a pawn down with a more exposed king.

Opening names, ECO codes, and reference lines are aligned with the curated Lichess chess-openings dataset. Plans are concise instructional guidance, not game-result statistics.