Editing King's Gambit (section)

{{Short description|Chess opening}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox chess opening
|openingname = King's Gambit
|image = {{Chess diagram
|
|
|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd
|pd|pd|pd|pd| |pd|pd|pd
| | | | | | | | 
| | | | |pd| | | 
| | | | |pl|pl| | 
| | | | | | | | 
|pl|pl|pl|pl| | |pl|pl
|rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl
|
}}
|moves=1.e4 e5 2.f4
|ECO=C30–C39
|birth= No later than 16th century
|nameorigin =
|parentopening = [[Open Game]]
|AKA=
|chessgid=101115&move=2.5&moves=e4.e5.f4&nodes=21720.21721.101115
}}

The '''King's Gambit''' is a [[chess opening]] that begins with the moves:
:1. [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4|e4]] [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5|e5]]
:2. [[b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4|f4]]

White offers a [[pawn (chess)|pawn]] to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the [[gambit]], White may play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit pawn with {{chessgloss|center|central}} domination, or direct their forces against the weak square f7 with moves such as Nf3, Bc4, 0-0, and g3. A downside to the King's Gambit is that it weakens White's king's position, exposing it to the latent threat of ...Qh4+ (or {{nowrap|...Be7–h4+}}), which may force White to give up [[castling]] rights.

The King's Gambit is one of the oldest documented openings, appearing in the earliest of chess books, [[Luis Ramírez de Lucena]]'s ''Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez'' (1497).<ref>{{Citation |last1=Hooper |first1=David |author-link=David Vincent Hooper |first2=Whyld |last2=Kenneth |author-link2=Kenneth Whyld |title=The Oxford Companion to Chess |year=1996 |edition=2nd |orig-year=First pub. 1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=201 |entry=King's Gambit |isbn=0-19-866164-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000hoop }}</ref> It was examined by the 17th-century Italian chess player [[Giulio Cesare Polerio]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Ristoja | first=Thomas |author2=Aulikki Ristoja  | title=Perusteet | series=Shakki | publisher=[[SanomaWSOY|WSOY]] | year=1995 | isbn=951-0-20505-2 | pages=58 | language=fi}}</ref>  The King's Gambit was one of the most popular openings until the late 19th century, when improvements in defensive technique led to its decline in popularity. It is infrequently seen at [[chess master|master]] level today, as Black has several methods to obtain {{chessgloss|equality}}, but is still popular at amateur level.
{{AN chess|pos=toc}}