Joe Gallagher plays the King’s Gambit!

by Johannes Fischer
12/23/2021 – The King's Gambit continues to pose puzzles. The opening evokes memories of glorious sacrificial games from the romantic era, but at the same time it is regarded as somewhat unsound — as theoretically incorrect. But even today the move 2.f4 after 1.e4 e5 leads again and again to unusual positions rich in content. As the games of King’s Gambit expert Joe Gallagher demonstrate! | Photo source: British Chess News

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Joe Gallagher, King's GambitBorn on 4 May 1964, Gallagher began his chess career in England and moved to Switzerland after marrying a Swiss woman. He became British Champion in 2001 and won the Swiss Championship in 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2012.

Gallagher, who became Grandmaster in 1990, is considered an Open specialist with a sharp and aggressive style. He has written numerous books on various openings, and made his debut as a book author with Winning with the King’s Gambit, published by Batsford in 1992.

But Gallagher not only preached, he also practised.

Here are four entertaining games in which Gallagher won with the King’s Gambit!

 

Interestingly, the same variation brought Gallagher another victory over a well-known grandmaster a year later.

 

Gallagher’s win against IM Vladimir Hresc shows how quickly unusual and double-edged tactical positions can arise in the King’s Gambit.

 

In many variations of the King’s Gambit, Black has at least one theoretical way to equalize, but often the positions are difficult to play — one mistake is enough for Black to suffer a shipwreck.

 

Daniel King reveals more about the King’s Gambit and why it is still very much playable!

Power Play 27 and 28 - The King's Gambit and Tactic Toolbox

Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. These DVDs contain all you need to know to play the King's Gambit.


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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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