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!

 
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1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nxd5 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 0-0 8.Bxd5 Qxd5 9.Bxf4 c5 10.Nc3 Qc4 11.Qe1 Bf6 12.Bd6 Bxd4+ 13.Kh1 Rd8 14.Ne4 f5? Up to this point, both players had followed familiar territory, but in 1990 the text move was a novelty. However, it is a bad move. At first sight, it seems like White is in trouble and about to lose a piece, since the white bishop will hang on d6 once the knight jumps to e4. But White has more tactical possibilities. 15.Qh4! Black is already in trouble after this counterattack. Nc6 We can see how strong White's attack actually is after the continuation 15...Re8 16.Neg5 h6 17.Qh5 Bd7 18.Qg6 and Black will soon be mated. 16.Ne5! With this surprising knight jump, White wins material. Bxe5 What else? After 16...Nxe5 the rook hangs on d8 and White wins with 17.Qxd8+ After 16...Qd5 follows 17.Nxc6 and again the rook hangs on d8 - and White threatens 18.Ne7+ grabbing the queen! And now 16...Qe6 17.Nxc6 Re8 18.Ne7+ Rxe7 19.Bxe7 Black is a whole rook down, since he can't capture on e4 due to the mate on f8. 17.Nf6+ Bxf6 18.Qxc4+ Kh8 19.Bxc5 White grabbed the queen and is now winning. Black defended stubbornly, but without success. Ne5 20.Qe2 Be6 21.Rfd1 f4 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Be7 f3 24.gxf3 Bc4 25.Qxe5 Bxe5 26.Bxd8 Bxb2 27.Rb1 Bd4 28.Rxb7 Bd5 29.Rb3 Bxb3 30.axb3 Kg8 31.Kg2 Kf7 32.f4 Ke6 33.Kf3 Kf5 34.Bc7 Bg1 35.h3 Bh2 36.c4 g5 37.Bb8 a6 38.b4 gxf4 39.b5 axb5 40.cxb5 Ke6 41.b6 Kd5 42.Bxf4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gallagher,J2495Campora,D25101–01990Biel-B7

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

 
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1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nxd5 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 0-0 8.Bxd5 Qxd5 9.Bxf4 c5 10.Nc3 Qc4 11.Qe1 Bf6 12.Bd6 Bxd4+ 13.Kh1 Rd8 14.Ne4 f5? At his best, Yuri Balashov was one of the best players in the Soviet Union and an excellent theoretician. However, he obviously didn't do his homework before this game, as he followed the Gallagher - Campora game played a year before without coming up with an improvement. Balashov thus suffered the same fate as Campora. 15.Qh4 Nc6 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.Nf6+ Bxf6 18.Qxc4+ Kh8 19.Bxc5 Ne5 20.Qe2 b6 21.Be7 Bxe7 22.Qxe5 Bf6 23.Qc7 h6 24.Rae1 Ba6 25.Rxf5 Bxb2 26.h3 Rdc8 27.Qe7 Bc4 28.Qb4 Bd4 29.Re4 a5 30.Qd2 Bb2 31.Rh5 Rc6 32.Rxc4 Rxc4 33.Rxh6+ gxh6 34.Qxh6+ Kg8 35.Qe6+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gallagher,J2520Balashov,Y25801–01991Lenk op4

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

 
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1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng5 h6 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.d4 Such positions have made the King's Gambit famous. White has already sacrificed a piece on move 7 in order to drag the black king into the open. f3 9.Bc4+ d5 10.Bxd5+ Kg7 11.gxf3 Bb4 Up to this point everything had been seen before - only this move is new. 12.Be3 Nf6 13.Bc4 Qe7 14.Qe2 gxf3 15.Qxf3 Bg4 16.Rg1 h5 17.e5 The position is extremely confusing. White now has two strong central pawns for the sacrificed piece. But both kings are vulnerable, and the white and black pieces are tying each other up. Nxe5? Black is the first to lose the thread, and his position collapses surprisingly quickly. The engines recommend the "quiet" return sacrifice 17...Rhf8! e.g. 18.0-0-0 Kh8 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Qe4 Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Bxc3 22.Qxe7 Bxb2+ 23.Kxb2 Nxe7 24.d5 Nf5 25.Bd2 and the white bishop pair secures White sufficient compensation for the exchange. 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.0-0-0 Bc5 The black position can no longer be saved, e.g. 19...Rad8 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5 Rhf8 22.Rxg4+ hxg4 23.Qxg4+ Kh7 24.Be4+ Kh8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Bg5 Qg7 27.Bf5 Rf8 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Be6+ Rf7 30.c3 and White is winning. 20.Rd7+ Nxd7 It is unclear whether Black has overlooked mate or simply decided to give up. However, even after 20...Kf8 21.Bxc5+ Ke8 22.Bd4 Bxf3 23.Bxe5 Nxd7 24.Bxh8 White is winning. 21.Qf7# 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gallagher,J2520Hresc,V23651–01991Geneve op7

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.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 Ng4 6.Nc3 d6 7.exd6 Bxd6 8.Qe2+ Kf8 8...Qe7 9.d4 Be6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.Qxe7 Bxe7 13.Bxd5 c6 14.Bb3 with a balanced position. 9.d4 Bf5 10.0-0 g5? Very principled - and bad. Black desperately wants to hold on to the extra pawn on f4, but in doing so he weakens his king's position too much. Better was to develop with 10...Nc6 e.g. 11.Nb5 a6 12.Nxd6 Qxd6 13.c3 Re8 14.Qd1 Na5 15.Bd3 with approximate equalisation. Black's bad king position outweighs the extra pawn. 11.h3 Nh6 12.h4! Also very principled - and very good. White weakens his king's position in order to go for an attack. f6 Perhaps Black believed that he could play 12...g4 here. But after 13.Ne5 Qxh4 14.Bxf4 g3 Black's attack does look threatening, but after 15.Bxh6+ Qxh6 15...Ke8 16.Ng6+ Kd7 17.Nxh4 loses the queen. 16.Ng4 Qh5 16...Bxg4 17.Rxf7+ Kg8 18.Qxg4+ Qg6 19.Qc8+ Bf8 20.Qxf8# 17.Rxf5 Qxf5 18.Rf1 Bf4 19.Nd5 White is on the winning side. 13.hxg5 fxg5 14.Ne4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Nc6 16.d5 The computer strikes immediately with 16.Nxg5 since after Qxg5 17.Rxf4+ Bxf4 18.Bxf4 Qe7 19.Bxh6+ Ke8 20.Qg4 White is winning: he is an exchange down, but also has a devastating attack. 16...Na5 17.Nxg5! Qxg5 18.Bxf4 Bxf4 19.Rxf4+ Kg7 20.Qd4+ Kg8 21.d6+ Nxc4 22.Qxc4+ Kg7 White is a piece down, but the black king is too exposed to parry White's attack. 23.Raf1 Rhf8 24.Rxf8 Rxf8 25.Rxf8 Kxf8 26.dxc7 and Black resigned. After 26...Qe3+ 27.Kf1 he has no more checks, and White's c-pawn will promote into a queen. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gallagher,J2500Timmerman,G23301–01993Douai op

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

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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