Of course the thread could be continued but it will be to everyone's benifit to discuss the theory of each subvariation in saparate threads.  Look how many pages long this thread is!  It is very difficult to go back and look up anything one remembers seeing.  Perhaps this thread could still be used to post philisophical thoughts concerning the King's Gambit?  Or maybe to post a poll to see what everyone thinks Semprun's reward should be for starting the forums most successful topic.

I support this claim. Fernando deserves it.

The search for the truth is commendable, and Glen's idea of separate threads is an excellent one.  

My one reservation though is that if we continue along this vein, we maybe in danger of putting some ChessPublishing.com Site Pros out of work. Ohh Well.  

Time to buckle down and get cracking gentlemen. The fate of the King's Gambit rests on your shoulders.

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Glenn:

Excellent idea. I will start with kieseritzky and a few diagrams. But later, I better go to work now!

Without further ado and as Michael asked so nicely, here is the annotated game. Enjoy

[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]  
[White "Fedorov,Alex"]  
[Black "Ivanchuk,V"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[BlackElo "2717"] 
[ECO "C39"] 
[Event "Corus"] 

1. e4 e5 2. f4 [ I have always found it interesting to tackle something for the first time in my life. I had not previously played against the King's Gambit.] 

exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 [ In recent times for some reason black has preferred 5...d6 6.Ng4 Nf6. But now if 6.Ng4 it is possible to take on e4, and the variation 6...Ne4 7.d3 Ng3 8.Bf4 Nh1 9.Qe2 Qe7 10.Nf6 Kd8 11.Bc7 Kc7 12.Nd5 Kd8 13.Ne7 Be7 is considered by theory to be favorable to black.] 

6. d4 d6 7. Nd3 Nc6!? [ A new continuation, which at least, is no less strong than the usual 7...Ne4 8.Bf4 Qe7 9. Qe2 Nc6 10.c3 Bf5 11.Nd2 0-0-0. (TopNotch: I prefer the lines stemming from 8...Bg7! rather than 8...Qe7 since after 8...Qe7 the reply 9.Be2!? may be stronger than 9.Qe2 as pointed out by Gallagher)]   

8. c3 [ White is not satisfied with 8.Nf4 Ne4, but the following line requires a practical testing: 8.d5 Ne5 9. Bf4 (9.Nc3!?) 9...Ne4 10.Ne5 de5 11.Be5 or 10.Qe2!? Instead of 9...Ne4, sounder is 9...Ng6 with good counterplay.] 

8...Nxe4 [ Initially 8...Bh6 9.Bf4 Bf4 10.Nf4 Ne4 seemed to me to be very interesting, but after 11.Qd3! 0-0 12.Nd2 it was not altogether clear to me how best to proceed. 12...Bf5 can be played, intending 13.Ne4 Be4 14.Qg3 f5! 15.Ne6? Qe7 16.Nf8 Bg2, but 13.0-0-0 ( instead of 13.Ne4) is also possible. 12...f5 also merits serious consideration, but nevertheless the game continuation appealed to me more.] 

9. Bxf4 d5! [Now in some ways the position resembles a Petroff Defence, in which Black has supported his centralised knight with d6-d5, and his king's bishop will be developed at d6.]

10. Nd2 Bd6 [ Now 11.Qe2 suggests itself, after which black has a pleasant choice between 11...0-0 12.Ne4 de4 13.Qe4 Re8 14.Ne5 Ne5 (14...f6?! 15.0-0-0! is very risky for Black) 15.de5 Be5 16.Be5 Qd6! 17.Bd6 Re4 18.Kd2 cd6 19.Bd3 Re5! =/+, and 11...f5 12.0-0-0 0-0 13.Qe3 Re8, but my opponent chooses another continuation.]   

11. Ne5 O-O [ I was not completely sure that the variation 11...Qf6 12.Ne4 Qf4 13.Nd6 cd6 14.Nd3 Qe4 15.Qe2 or even 15.Kd2!? was in my favor. Apart from the move played, 11...Nd2!? 12.Qd2 Ne5 13.de5 Be7 14.0-0-0 Be6 was also very tempting, when it is very hard for white to show that he has sufficient compensation for the pawn.]   

12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qc2!? [ If 13.Bg5, then Black has not only 13...f6, but also 13...Be7!? 14.Be7 Qe7 15.Ng4 f5 with a clear advantage.] 

13...Qf6 [ To some extent this involves an oversight. It now seems to me that 13...Bf5 was stronger, and if 14.Qf2, then 14...Be6! 15.0-0-0 Qe7 16.Nc6?! bc6 17.Bh6 f5! 18.Bf8 Rf8-/+. Also interesting is the trappy 14...Qf6 (instead of 14...Be6) 15.Bg5 Qe6 16.Bc4?! (16.Nc4! is better) 16...Ne5! 17.Be6 Nd3 18.Ke2 Nf2 19.Bf5 Nh1 20.Rh1 with a black plus.] 

14. Bg5?! [ White should have decided on 14.Qe4! Bf5 15.Qe3 Rae8 16.Bb5! Ne5 (16...Be5 17.de5 Ne5 18.Be8 Re8 is justified after 19.0-0-0?! Bg6!, but after 19.0-0! Nf3 20.Rf3 Re3 21.Re3 Qh4 White is not in danger of losing) 17.de5 Be5 (17...c6!? 18.Bc4 Be5 19.0-0 Unclear) and now possible are both the simple 18.0-0! with compensation for the pawn, as well as the adventurous 18.Be8?! Bf4 19.Qf4 (but not the losing 19.Bf7? Rf7 20.Qf4 Qe6 21.Kd2 Bg6!) 19...Re8 20.Kf2?! (if 20.Kd2!, white has to reckon with 20...Qc6 and 20...Qb6!?) 20...Qb6 21.Qd4 Qb2 22.Kg3 c5! (22...Re2 23.Rhg1 or 22...Re4 23.Rhb1 is less convincing) 23.Qf4 (23.Qc5 Rc8! 24.Qf5 Rc3 25.Kg4 Qg2 26.Kh5 Rc5! and mates) 23...Qc3 24.Kh2 Qe5 and Black is on top.] 

14...  Qf5 15. Nxc6 Bg3+  [The immediate 15...bc6 was also not bad, but after 16.Bc4 I would all the same have had to give  the check on g3. The reason for the early bishop check was my desire to avoid the endgame after 16.Qf2, which might not be won.] 

16. Kd1 bxc6 17. Bc4 Bf2 [I saw the variation 17...Be6!? 18.Rf1 Qg5 19.hg5 Bc4, which is not at all convincing, but I over-looked another queen sacrifice: 18...Qg6! 19.Rf6? Bc4! 20.Rg6 fg6!, which is in fact very strong. Stronger for white is 19.Be6 fe6 ( 19...Qe6 20.Rf6) 20.Ke2, retaining possibilities of a defence.] 

18. Qe2 Be6 19. Rf1 g3 20. Be3 c5! 21. Bxf2? [Things would have been more difficult for Black after 21. Kc2! cd4 22.cd4, although in this case too there is no doubt about his advantage.] 

21... Bxc4 22. Qxc4 gxf2 23. Qe2 cxd4 24. Rxf2 Qe5 25. Qg4+ Kh8 26. Rf5 [ White could have set a trap with 26.Qf5, and if 26...f6? 27.cd4 Qd4 28.Rd2!, when the play becomes sharper. But after the simple exchange on f5 the win is not at all difficult.] 

26...Qd6 27. Kc2 d3+ 28. Kd2 Rae8 29. Re1 e3+ 30. Rxe3 Rxe3 31. Kxe3 d2 32. Rf1 [ 32.Qd1 Qe6 33.Kf4 Qe1.]

32...Re8+ 33. Kf2 Qf6+ 34. Qf3 Qb6+ 
White resigned. 0-1 

Maybe its time someone started a new thread entitled - Can the King's Gambit be Saved?!

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We might also conclude that TopNotch is just too cowardly to give lines which should be good for Black. Moreover he is guilty of bad logic. He should not compare the KG with the Ruy Lopez, but with the Petrov. This most boring of all openings is exactly the reason for Whities not to play 2.Nf3.

Yup, Mr X pretty much summed it up in a nutshell 

I too had to heed my own advice when the Scotch Gambits, Max Langes', Albins Counter Gambits as well as a whole host of other tricky Openings that served me so well as a class player, just didn't seem to work anymore as I climbed the ranks. Too many people knew the theory and weren't falling for my traps, which usually meant that I was often left with sterile equality or something worse. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

So once again I'm appealing to you as Morpheus did to Neo "Free Your Mind".

Seems I'm quoting The Matrix a lot these days.

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