Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. f4/2...d6

King's Gambit Declined rd nd bd qd kd bd nd rd pd pd pd pd pd pd pd pd pl pl pl pl pl pl pl pl rl nl bl ql kl bl nl rl King's Gambit Declined 2...d6 This is one way to decline the King's Gambit. This can arise from many different positions, but this transposition to the King's Gambit Declined is most common. This is somewhat sounder than the King's Gambit Declined, Classical Variation, as in the Classical Variation, white can chase the bishop out of c5 and put more pressure on e5, especially with Nf3. Here, on the other hand, if white plays 3. Nf3?!, then black plays 3...exf4! transposing to the King's Gambit Accepted, Fischer Defense. This is similarly true with with 3. Nc3!?, but in this case, white gets a lot more compensation for the pawn compared to 3. Nf3. In fact, the best move here is 3. d3!, defending the pawn on f4 and blocking all transpositions to the King's Gambit Accepted. However, white had to make a concession for this: block his light-squared bishop. Nevertheless, 3.d3 leads to equality with best play. Note: If white plays 3. Bc4 (to not block the bishop), 3...exf4! also works. Theory table . 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d6 3 4 5 6 7 Fischer Defense Nf3exf4 d4g5 h4g4 Ng1Bh6 Ne2Qf6 ∞/+ Omaha Gambit Nc3exf4 Qe2Qh4+ Qf2Qxf2+ Kxf2Nf6 d4Ng4+ ∞ King's Gambit Declined d3Nc6 Nf3f5 Be2Be7 O-ONf6 Nc3O-O = King's Gambit Accepted Sideline Bc4exf4 Qf3g5 h4Nc6 Qc3Ne5 Nf3Bg7 ∞/+ King's Gambit Declined Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. 1-8574-4221-0. Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. 0-8129-3084-3.