TopNotch wrote on 10/18/06 at 00:39:04:
I too have a theory, and it is that strong White players no better than to use the KINGS GAMBIT IN ANY FORM against strong opposition on a regular basis. To adapt a line from Nigel Short: To play the Kings Gambit regularly is to take ones life in your hands.
Yes, but that's not because the King's Gambit is unsound. More that it's not worth the time invested for the professional player. The King's Gambit is very easy to prepare for if Black knows it's coming. And worse, it's very easy to find novelties for Black, which White then has to solve over the board. Not the situation a pragmatic grandmaster (who has bills to pay) wants to face regularly: a difficult draw against a well-prepared 2250 player, a crushing defeat to some 2550 GM, a consequent big loss in prize money. Hence (checking a couple of scores in MegaBase):
Fedorov P44, W21, D16, L7, 66%
with 2 Nf3 (since 2003): P33, W15, D17, L1, 71%
Hebden P42, W18, D11, L13, 56%
with 1 d4 (since 1988): P655, W369, D204, L82 72%
[although: Gallagher P78, W48, D18, L12, 73%; with 2 Nf3 (since 1996): P57, W24, D28, L5, 67%]
But so what? So a GM scores better with 2 Nf3 or whatever; those are professionals' results, with professional technique to back them up. At lower levels you can get away with absolutely any old rubbish, much worse openings than 2 f4. Games are won and lost on mistakes, not small theoretical advantages. It's much better to play openings you enjoy, openings where you know what you're doing, pet lines with your own ideas, anything you like. (Actually that works at higher levels as well; e.g. in England GMs Hodgson and Hebden making big weapons out of 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 and 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 respectively.)
Incidentally, my own score as White with the KG OTB is 69% (or 73% if I leave out several losses to Hebden

). As Black it's 78%, which is quite a bit better than my 66% against the Ruy (but that's playing the King's Gambit a tempo down; i.e. 3...f5).
TopNotch wrote on 10/18/06 at 00:39:04:
I could be way off base here, but I think there is a reason why there has not been a COHERENT repertoire book advocating the Kings Gambit since Joe Gallagher's effort 'Winning With The King's Gambit' WAY BACK IN 1992!!, that reason being, such a repertoire simply does not exist.
There have been two books by Thomas Johansson and one book, one CD by Bangiev.
But anyway, of course a repertoire exists. People write books on 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4, 1 e4 c5 2 a3, 1 g4, ... You can build a repertoire out of anything as long as you know what you're doing - and that's much easier in a pet sideline than a big main line. For instance, 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4! is of course critical, but I've scored much better (80%) with 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 a4 which is at best equal for White (and have a similar score with 1 b3). It doesn't matter.
TopNotch wrote on 10/18/06 at 00:39:04:
Admittedly you have peaked my curiosity concerning the mysterious C39, I will have to check my database to see what all the fuss is about, and why the standard recipe of g5 followed by Bg7 etc. shouldn't be good for Black here as well.
4...Bg7 is fine. It's just that in this particular position 4...Nc6 is better.