Aggressive Chess Opening Discussion #14: King's Gambit Series: King's Gambit Accepted

Alright! Now that we are finished talking about the main moves for black to play against the accepted king's gambit, we will now look at the cunningham variation and oh boy, there are variations of this opening that can put black in trouble if not fully prepared. Let's get right to it.

So again, this opening is called the "King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham Defense".

So instead of playing the main moves such as 3...d6, 3...d5, or 3...g5, black goes for 3...Be7. The idea behind Be7 is trying to uncastle the enemy king after Bh4+ and have some attacking ideas. Although, it does seem right to take the bishop on h4 with the knight on f3, but black is already better here after taking back with the queen! Which means black already accomplished their goals of uncastling the king and now has chances to put white's king under tremendous pressure after some development. I'll show one game of this line being played just to show you all how bad it is to take that bishop! Here is one game (with perfect accuracy) that can theoretically be played in this opening: https://www.chess.com/a/2YB23QoeeAQ7Q

In this case, uncastling can usually be what happens to white in this opening. So do not be afraid if black insists on the idea. The only thing you HAVE to do for white is immediately develop the light squared bishop to c4. This is why 4.Bc4  is the main move in this openings. 4.Be2 can be played since it is a developing move with the bishop, but it's placed on a passive square, so this is why 4.Bc4 is played, because you are developing the light squared bishop to it's most active square and preparing for the move Bh4+. Any other move that isn't a light squared bishop move completely puts white in a troubling position. Now after 4.Bc4, black can persist with the idea of checking the enemy king or play Nf6. Let's look at 4...Bh4+.

After 4...Bh4+, black chooses to persist on the idea of uncastling the enemy king, which isn't necessarily a good move since white had prepared for this move with 5.Kf1. Another move that can be played but is rarely played is 5.g3?!. Intentionally weakening the king's position to gain some huge pressure along the f file after white castles. Let's look at the move g3.

After 5.g3, white sacrifices their king side structure to gain huge pressure along the f file. This opening is called the "King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham, Bertin Gambit".

Black should take the pawn since if the bishop moves back, it leaves white with a strong central structure. So 5...fxg3. Now white will castle here. Since the bishop is blocked by it's own pawns, white has the opportunity to castle here. With 6.O-O, white eyes the rook on the semi open file. Putting indirect pressure on f7. Black being the greedy person they are, has the opportunity to take another pawn with check, which they do! 6...gxh2+ 7.Kh1. White is completely safe here with black's pawn on h2 since there is no immediate pressure on white at the moment. If you look at this position, ask yourself, who is actually better? White with their rapid development and target along the f file, or black who completely destroyed white's king side by grabbing all of the pawns but is far behind in development? I'll let you guys decide this among yourselves. The game continues by black giving back a pawn with 7...d5. Realizing what white's threat will be, so giving back a pawn is the right way to go. Bxd5 can be played here but the absolute best move is 8.exd5. 8...Nh6 just continues development and indirectly protects the f7 pawn. You might just think (9.d4) is threatening to destroy black's pawn structure on the king side, but black just plays (9...Nf5). That knight can never be a target of any of white's pieces and now black is just ready to castle soon with a really huge advantage. That bishop on h4 is a real nuisance so black has to take it. 9.Nxh4 9...Qxh4. 10.Qe1+ just trading the queens off. In this position, we all can see who is better here:

https://www.chess.com/a/2GBATGKrWAQ7Q

I wouldn't recommend this line for white, because for one: you have no immediate pressure on black. two: you are down 2 pawns. Although, there are a lot of opportunities for your opponents to make a mistake or a blunder in their position, that is IF your opponent isn't a skilled king's gambit player as black and has prepared themselves for this line. 

After 5.Kf1, black should move the bishop back with 5...Be7. You do not want to give up the bishop pair. Besides, moving the bishop back isn't necessarily a waste of time because you got the king uncastled, so that's a pro for the move. Now all you have to do is stop white's attacking potential after 6.Ne5. This move puts more pressure on black's f7 pawn. You have to defend 6...Nh6. 7.d4 now having central control and immediately putting pressure on f4. 7...d6 forcing the knight away. 8.Nf3. 8...c6 trying to get d5 in to weaken white's central structure. 9.Bxf4 just to regain the pawn and now threatening to shatter black's king side structure. 9...d5 attacking white's center and threatening to take white's bishop. 10.Bxh6 with a tactical idea that if black insists on taking the light squared bishop, white will just be up a pawn. 10...gxh6 opening up the g file for the rook. 11.exd5 11...cxd5 12.Bb3 just retreating the bishop. 12...Be6 overprotecting the d5 pawn and maybe looking to castle queenside. 13.Nc3 just keeping the pressure on d5. 13...Nc6 developing the knight and keeping pressure on d4. 14.Qd2 now looking to move the king towards the queen side, putting a queen on a slightly more active square, and hitting h6 since black's king side structure was weak. 14...Qd6 putting the queen on a more active square and preparing to castle queen side. 15.Re1 putting the rook on the open file. 15...Rg8 putting the rook on the semi open file. I'll stop right here since this position is pretty equal, but both players will have to prove that it's an equal position.

https://www.chess.com/a/oGbRB4ykAQ7Q

This is why some people don't usually play the h4+ line. I don't blame them. Let's move on to the move 4...Nf6 (which is the main line).

After 4...Nf6, this opening is called the "King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham,McCormick Defense".

Black is looking to quickly castle, be up a pawn, and attacking the e4 pawn. White needs to prevent black from taking another pawn also keep black from castling with the move 5.e5. Striking at the knight on f6 also gaining some space in the center (Engines recommend the move d3). 5...Ng4 (engines recommend Nh5) comes with the threat of Bh4+ now, but white can ignores this by just continuing their development with 6.Nc3. Black should take the opportunity to uncastle the enemy king with 6...Bh4 check. Suprisingly enough, white can move the king to f1 7.Kf1. It is a safe square for the king and there isn't immediate pressure on white at the moment. Some people might think "Oh darn I'm going to lose the exchange" but actually white's winning material here if black persist on the of forking both queen and rook. In fact, this is considered a mistake according to the engine's. I'll leave it in the analysis. For now, let's focus on what both players accurate moves should be. Black should castle hear since Nf2 isn't really a threat. So 7...O-O. 8.d4 grabbing central control and threatening to win the f4 pawn. At this point the pawn can't be saved, so black goes for the move 8...Ne3+, forking the queen and king so black has to take the knight. 9.Bxe3 9...fxe3. Now 10.Qd3. The pawn is lost so there is no point in trying to save it, unless you want to lose the bishop pair. Also, Qd3 is an active square for the queen. 10...d6 opening up an opportunity for the light squared bishop to develop. 11.Qxd3, just winning the pawn back. 11...Be7 to avoid losing the bishop pair. 12.h4 maybe trying to start a king side attack. At this point, I'm going to stop the analysis here. In this position, white is so far ahead in development, controls a lot of central squares, and is ready to start a king side attack, but the king is still stuck in the center. Black has a castled king but their pieces are not fully developed. So who's to say is better here. Although the engines say that black is slightly better here:

https://www.chess.com/a/2NDgbaU78AQ7Q

Alright, now Friday I'll try focusing on the refuted king's gambit move 3...Nf6. Since I covered a lot about the cunningham. Hope this was worth reading. Let me know what you guys think of this.