TacticForge

Chapter 1 of 5

3…g5 and 3…d6: Black holds the pawn

Black's most ambitious answers try to keep the extra pawn with …g5. Against 3…g5, the Kieseritzky: 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5. Against Fischer's 3…d6, 4.Bc4 and d4, with the centre and the open f-file.

After 2…exf4 3.Nf3, about two club players in five try to hold on to the pawn on f4, either at once with 3…g5 or first with 3…d6, the defence Bobby Fischer recommended. In both cases Black's kingside pawns go forward, and Black's king will have little cover.

Against 3…g5 the book plays the Kieseritzky: 4.h4 undermines the pawn chain, and after 4…g4 5.Ne5 White's knight takes a powerful central post. Against 3…d6, White develops with 4.Bc4, takes the centre with d4, and hits the pawn chain with h4 if Black plays …g5.

At a glance

3…g5

4.h4. After 4…g4, 5.Ne5.

3…d6

4.Bc4, then d4. Against …g5, h4.

4…f6 in the Kieseritzky

5.Nxg5!, and the king comes under fire after 5…fxg5 6.Qh5+.

Key ideas

Undermine the chain

Black's pawns on f4 and g5 protect each other only as long as g5 stands. h4 attacks it at once: if it advances, the pawn on f4 is on its own.

The Kieseritzky knight

From e5 the knight eyes f7 and the pawn on g4, and nothing can chase it easily. White will win back material with gain of time.

The centre for a pawn

Against the Fischer Defence, White doesn't hurry to win back the pawn. The pawns on d4 and e4, the bishop on c4 and the half-open f-file are the compensation.

From history

A bust to the King's Gambit

In 1960 at Mar del Plata, Boris Spassky beat the young Bobby Fischer with the Kieseritzky. Fischer answered in print: in "A Bust to the King's Gambit", in the first issue of the American Chess Quarterly in 1961, he claimed the gambit loses by force after 3…d6, the defence covered in this chapter.

Kieseritzky's line

The Kieseritzky Gambit is named after Lionel Kieseritzky, a Baltic German master who lived in Paris and popularised 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 in the 1840s. He is remembered above all for a game he lost: the Immortal Game, against Adolf Anderssen in London in 1851, in which Kieseritzky had the black pieces.

The lines

Click a move or use the arrows. Highlighted moves carry a note, and under each note you'll find the other moves played from that position, including the tempting mistakes. The number under the board is Stockfish's evaluation from your side: minus means your opponent is better.

Black plays 3…g5

The Kieseritzky: 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5

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Black plays 3…d6

The Fischer Defence: 4.Bc4 and d4

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Black plays 4…f6

4…f6: the knight sacrifice

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Black plays 5…d6

5.Ne5 d6 6.Nxg4

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Black plays 5…Nf6

5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4

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Black plays 4…Bg4

4.Bc4 Bg4 5.d4

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Black plays 4…Be7

4.Bc4 Be7 5.O-O

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Black plays 4…g5

4.Bc4 g5 5.h4

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Black plays 4…Nf6

4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nc3

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Black plays 4…Nc6

4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d4

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Black plays 5…Nf6

5.d4 Nf6 6.Nc3

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Black plays 5…Nf6

5.d4 Nf6 6.Nc3

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Black plays 5…Nc6

5.d4 Nc6 6.Bxf4

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Black plays 5…Bg4

5.O-O Bg4 6.d4

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Black plays 5…Be6

5.Nc3 Be6 6.Bxe6

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Black plays 5…h6

5.Nc3 h6 6.d4

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Black plays 5…Nc6

5.Nc3 Nc6 6.d4

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Black plays 5…g5

5.d4 g5 6.h4

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Black plays 5…Be7

5.d4 Be7 6.Bxf4

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A model game

Games between masters, with the engine's evaluation under the board.

Berg plays the Kieseritzky against Nils Grandelius. Black answers 5.Ne5 with …Nf6 and …d5, giving back the pawn for activity, but White wins the material back and converts the endgame.

Swedish Championship · 1-0

Berg, E. – Grandelius, N., 2015

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Step through the moves with the arrows, or click a move.

Take these into your games

Hit the chain

When Black holds f4 with …g5, attack g5 with h4. Without g5, the pawn on f4 falls.

Pieces before pawns

You are a pawn down by choice. Use the time: develop, castle, and open lines before Black consolidates.