King's Gambit Accepted: Kieseritzky Gambit

What Is The Kieseritzky Gambit?

After 4...g4 the knight on f3 is attacked, and 5.Ne5 answers without conceding anything: the knight takes a square where it eyes f7 and g4 rather than retreating. Compare 5.Ng5, the Allgaier, which hands over a piece. White stands one pawn down, plays d4, and drops the knight back to d3, where it hits f4 and prepares Bxf4.

Black's f4 and g4 pawns are the whole game. They cramp White, and the moment g4 falls the half open f file and White's center decide matters. So Black props the chain: 5...h5, the Long Whip, glues g4 in place, 5...d6 (Kolisch) and 5...d5 (Brentano) strike first, and 5...Nf6, the Berlin Defense, is the main line: 6.d4 d6 7.Nd3 Nxe4 8.Bxf4. Hold g4 and the extra pawn is yours.

How Do You Beat The King's Gambit Accepted: Kieseritzky Gambit?

46% play 5...h5 and 35% 5...d6, on a small sample so read those as tendencies. White has jumped the knight to e5 rather than retreating it, which supports the extra pawn on f4 and attacks g4 and f7 at the same time.

...d6 is the move that dissolves the whole attack, because it chases the knight and opens your own bishop in one go. Holding the g-pawn with ...h5 is playable and it commits you to defending a very loose kingside for a long time. If you would rather not calculate for twenty moves, ...d6 followed by returning the extra pawn gets you a normal game where White has nothing.

What Do Players Choose At The Decision Point?

Move	Share		Games
Ne5	63%		71
Ng5	35%		40
Ng1	2%		2

How Does Play Continue From Here?

Move	Share		Games
h5	46%		33
d6	35%		25
Nf6	6%		4
Qe7	4%		3