Chessily

King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4

Bishop's Gambit
1.2.3.

What Is The Bishop's Gambit?

3.Bc4 aims the bishop straight at f7 and refuses to spend a move stopping 3...Qh4+. White answers the check with 4.Kf1 and gives up the right to castle. That is a trade, not a blunder: the queen on h4 becomes a target, and Nf3 later gains a tempo on her while White builds the centre with d4. The check wins nothing lasting.

Your compensation for the pawn is the centre and a lead in development: d4, Nc3 and constant pressure on f7. Black must choose between holding the extra pawn with ...g5 and ...Bg7 or returning it to finish development, and games turn on that choice. Cling to f4 and White's centre rolls forward. Hand it back too early and White keeps the better structure for nothing.

How Does Play Continue From Here?

MoveShareGames
Qh4+19%
41
Nf617%
37
g514%
31
Nc610%
22

The Named Lines Of The Bishop's Gambit

LineMoves
Anderssen Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 g5
Bledow Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5
Gianutio Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 f5
Kieseritzky Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 b5
Lopez Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 c6
Cozio Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6
Maurian Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nc6
Steinitz Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Ne7
Bogoljubow Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3
Anderssen Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 c6
Bogoljubow Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6
Bledow Countergambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Nf6
Bryan Countergambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5
Cozio Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6
Lopez Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5
Boden Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 Nc6
First Jaenisch Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 Nf6
Greco Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 Bc5
Paulsen Attack1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.e5
Classical Defense, Cozio Attack1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Qf3
Boren-Svenonius Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1 Bd6
Chigorin's Attack1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d5 5.Bxd5 g5 6.g3
McDonnell Attack1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.d4 Ne7 7.g3
Classical Defense1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 Ne7 5.Nc3 g5 6.d4 Bg7
Grimm Attack1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.d4 d6 7.e5
Fraser Variation1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.g3 fxg3 7.Qf3