079. The Refutation of the King's Gambit

White: Dougbeer - Thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2022

The title above is from an 11-part 2020/21 series (available for free download) by GM Matthias Wahls, who writes: “In my opinion, the King’s Gambit is clearly refuted by the Schallop Variation.”

Please note that “clearly refuted” doesn't necessarily mean a forced loss. From Wahls’ grandmasterly perspective, an opening is refuted for White if it leads to an inevitable disadvantage. And I am willing to concede that Wahls achieves his objective: White is theoretically worse in the Schallopp, so, on his terms, the King's Gambit can be regarded as refuted.

That's not enough to keep me from playing it. In recent games between the engines, either directly or by proxy, White manages mostly to draw after 3...Nf6. Which is to say, White's disadvantage is not so great that an engine can't defend it. And if an engine can defend against its 3600-rated colleague, I am reasonably hopeful of defending against mine at a lowly 2200 or less. Supposing they're sufficiently well prepared actually to achieve an advantage. Generally, they aren't. In fact, I've never lost to the Schallopp.

From the other side, I am more than reasonably hopeful of winning after 2 f4. To that end, the Wagenbach (2...exf4 4 Nf3 h5) has been very successful for me (over 80% as Black). Yet not as successful as the Schallopp. I've employed 3...Nf6 as an occasional weapon some fifteen times over the years – and won every single game.

This is the most recent example. My eighth move was a novelty. Previously Black has played 8...Ng7, transposing to the main line of Wahls' fourth article. But the engines have drawn against that, so I thought I'd try something else. Had my opponent elected to exchange queens on move 24, the result would probably have been the same. As it was, by the time the queens were due to come off anyway, White had a lost endgame.