If I was White and I had made the mistake of playing 1.f4, I'd love the opportunity to correct it by playing the King's Gambit! (1...e5 2.e4!) 

bohdan wrote on 07/19/07 at 07:49:35:


I play both the KG and From, and when I get the From, I already count the point (more then 80% of the cases, if they do not play the Mestel variation main line, where you have to fight for the point). The KG is a lot of work to learn and maintain. The From is just a little to learn, but you have to spent some time to analyze variations, which are not covered by the theory. Day is a stronger player then me, but I am pretty sure about what I know from the evaluation of the From. So in summary:
* KG leads to equal or unclear positions (as far as I know)
* From leads to better for white positions

Please note, that to play the From, you need to do your home analyses and practice the variations, just check the chessbase database results, and you know what I mean (which score better for black).  So the From has a good reputation for black, but it is unjustified, which is another argument to play the From for white.

Best sources for theory are the Taylor book, the Chessbase CD and there is an old chessbase theory artical.

There are not a lot of games or theory how to handle Nc6-Bg4 setups well. However the following game (though not perfect), gives the idea how to setup for white and how to escape the black pressure. When white gains control the e4 square before the e3 pawn, then the positional battle is won:

Spiller, Paul-Osawa, Tetsuya 1999
1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d4 Bg4 6. e3 Nf6 7. Bb5 O-O 8. Nc3 (8. Bxc6!?)  8... Qe7 9. O-O Nb4 10. a3 Nbd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Re1 Nf6 13. Bd3 Rfe8 14. e4 Nd7 15. Bg5 Qf8 16. e5 Be7 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. h3 Bh5 19. c3 Rad8 20. Qc2 h6 21. g4 Bg6 22. Bxg6 fxg6 23. Qxg6 Nf8 24. Qe4 c6 25. Rf1 Rd7 26. Rf2 Red8 27. b4 a6 28. a4 Ne6 29. Raf1 a5 30. bxa5 c5 31. Kg2 cxd4 32. cxd4 Nxd4 33. Nxd4 Rxd4 34. Rf8+ Rxf8 35. Rxf8+ Qxf8 36. Qxd4 Qf7 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Qd3+ Kg8 39. Kg3 Qc7 40. Qd5+ Kh8 41. Kf3 Qc3+ 42. Ke4 Qc2+ 43. Kd4 Qb2+ 44. Kc5 Qa3+ 45. Kb6 Qb2+ 46. Kc7 Qc2+ 47. Kxb7 1-0

So in this case the black square bishop stays on c1. It only moves to g5 after an early Nf6. However I never analysed if then a e3-d4 setup is still sound.

@Thibdb:
I never had the "full" Mestel like Taylor described on the board. However often an early Nc6 or Bg4. Both variations are not well described in theory books. You can get an advantage, but you need to prepare well. A setup with pawns on e3-d4 often works well.

@Leeroth:
Yes, that's variation, which is a real point scorer for white.

Black_Widow wrote on 07/06/07 at 11:15:42:



Agree completely.

I gave up the From because of the line 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nf3 g5 5. g3 g4 6. Nh4 Ne7 7. d4 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9. Qd3 Nc6 10. c3 Bf5 11. e4 Qe7 12. Bg2 O-O-O 13. Be3 Bd7 14. Bf2!

Theoretically I prefer to accept the From but over the board 
it depends on personal mood and time rate.
Especially in blitz it´s more easy to attack in an unclear 
King´s Gambit than to defend a sound extra pawn with
some only moves.

tracke 

Without doubt From, and with a good chance on an easy point. However you need to do some homework on beforehand, because some variations are very tricky, and consume a lot of time if you are not prepared. Taylor is a good source for the From Lasker variation. For the other variations, I am afraid you depend on home analysis.