Reviewing my database since August 2019, I found the King's Gambit was played in a little over five hundred games. That equates, if I'm not mistaken, to an average of ten games per month. Do you think the King's Gambit is dying out? This is one of the most recent games:
Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Peter Svidler (World Rapid Team 2023)
Yes.
Only 120 games per year.
This is because it is a very complex and risky gambit with a lot of theory. And it is also not popular neither at the GM level nor at the 900 level.
It is dying because people don't want to sacrifice their kings and usually their games
On a serious note it is much less played because most other sidelines are competitive even if the opponent knows its coming unlike the kings gambit which is just easy to counter
Yes, and it's pretty good.
Kings gambit has been dying out ever since Steinitz. It may re-surrect as surprise weapon every now and then but on top it has been almoste extinct for ages
One reason why I pretty much quit playing it is that black has a choice of several (I think it's six, BICBW) defenses, all of which are fully playable. Black just has to know one of them passably well, white has to be prepared for all of them.
Another is that the extent to which modern opening theory has developed. Even these old, semi forgotten openings have been well and deeply researched, pretty much to the point where white is, not struggling, but certainly fighting for more than equality.
One good example of this is GM Matthias Wahl's analysis of the Schallop defense. That's not even one of the main lines, and in his analysis white is struggling. At no point does it look like black is in trouble. Certainly, black players are no more likely to know the analysis any better than white, but I doubt that white players who have seen the analysis are anxious to test it. Maybe someone is, but is he likely to come up against it, or maybe another variation?
It's not dead, and it's still a good opening.
But it leads to an open board, where anything can happen. It leads to exciting games, but you have to memorize quite a few lines and hope your opponent isn't as prepared.
@Professor74 said in #1:
> Do you think the King's Gambit is dying out?
I ́m doing my best to make sure that it doesn ́t :)
@Professor74 Thanks for this information!
Five hundred games in the last four years! I know openings that are played much less! And that Ian Nepomniachtchi, recent contender for the world crown, has decided to play it's a clear sign that the King's Gambit is not disappearing. It's not one of the most played, that's true, but this opening has stood the test of time. And chess players, even among the world's elite, continue to find it attractive.
