My initial thoughts were 4.h3, tie his pawns down and keep the knight stationed where it is, but then I found this idea, I like!
4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke8 7.Qxg4 Nf6 8.Qxf4
Leaving white down a p&B for 3p, but black can no longer castle and is behind in development.
Personally, I think white is losing from 2.f4?
Alice's Dad
Originally posted by Alices DadI disagree. I have completed 141 KG games here overwhelmingly won for white, including Game 2439096 which was against a very useful player who almost won the 2007 Championship and follows the very line being played here.
My initial thoughts were 4.h3, tie his pawns down and keep the knight stationed where it is, but then I found this idea, I like!
4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke8 7.Qxg4 Nf6 8.Qxf4
Leaving white down a p&B for 3p, but black can no longer castle and is behind in development.
Personally, I think white is losing from 2.f4?
Alice's Dad
(and please don't tell me I was worse and only won because black made an error (I leave you to find that) as all games are won as a result of one side making an error)
Originally posted by Alices Dad4.h3 looks passive. May work if black tries too hard to get an extra advantage (playing d5 and/or h5), but if black plays calmly (d6 and Bg7) white's development advantage will fade out and so will the compensation for the pawn.
My initial thoughts were 4.h3, tie his pawns down and keep the knight stationed where it is, but then I found this idea, I like!
4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke8 7.Qxg4 Nf6 8.Qxf4
Leaving white down a p&B for 3p, but black can no longer castle and is behind in development.
Personally, I think white is losing from 2.f4?
Alice's Dad
Your other idea is quite the opposite. It looks like an 'alternative' Muzio (or fit in a double Muzio with sacs on f3 AND f7). It is not forcing, though, because black doesn't have to play g4. And even if he does, I am not convinced that black cannot hold against the attack (which would give him a won endgame).
I always like to shake up a fun game up with Nc3?! after g5, but if we really are serious, then I generally play h3. Passive, but means Black has opened up his castling KS option for comparitively naught. It's a great psychological weapon too, the idea that a simple pawn move can just stop him in his tracks.
My thoughts on h3: By playing this, white's forgetting why it played the gambit to begin with.
In the KG, white offers a pawn for the initiative, a quicker lead in development and a pawn centre. By playing 2..exf4 and 3...g4, black takes white on and accepts this challenge. So we have a battle between White's initiative (a temporary advantage) versus Black's extra pawn (a permanent advantage).
If white plays the passive h3, it has abandoned this battle and has started defending itself from a threat that it didn't need to create to begin with, the extra pawn. Black could then play natural developing moves, catch up in development, and leave white with no compensation.
Originally posted by bosintangh3 doesn't mean white isn't planning to attack, it just means white is planning to attack a little later. I've gotten many quick KG wins, but many slow ones as well. h3 is move that (IMO) tries to restrict blacks movement. Blacks pawn on g5 is weak, If he defends it with h6, then black is almost assured to castle queenside. Castling Q-side takes more time, and gives white more time to rip the middle open or to try to keep blacks king in the middle. It's a battle of philosophy. White thinks black will have to spend too much time defending his weak pawns and keeping his king safe, while white will try to attack both of them, maybe at the same time.
My thoughts on h3: By playing this, white's forgetting why it played the gambit to begin with.
Originally posted by hammster21I'm not suggesting white should start attacking. But the point is that white's lead in development is it's advantage at the moment, and if it doesn't use it, it will lose it. It's not about going for checkmate. It could be about grabbing space, dominating the centre, and maintaing the initiative. As far black having to castle Q-side, I don't see that as a problem unless black is behind in development.
h3 doesn't mean white isn't planning to attack, it just means white is planning to attack a little later. I've gotten many quick KG wins, but many slow ones as well. h3 is move that (IMO) tries to restrict blacks movement. Blacks pawn on g5 is weak, If he defends it with h6, then black is almost assured to castle queenside. Castling Q-side takes more time keeping his king safe, while white will try to attack both of them, maybe at the same time.
I'm also not so sure I see how black's g-pawn is weak after h3 is played. Black doesn't have to play h6 to defend it. 4.h4 is a much greater threat to the g-pawn by forcing 4..g4. Playing 4.h3 is like you're trying to prevent 4...g4, but I don't see why. If black has it's way, wouldn't it just want to leave the g-pawn where it is?