Classic Chess Game - King's Gambit

Greetings to all chess fans! The King's Gambit is an opening characterized by sacrificing the f pawn on the second move. It was employed by top players in the 1900s and leads to open games that are exciting and decisive. The most famous example was the "Immortal Game" played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in London in 1851. It's rarely used in the top levels nowadays but the opening shows itself from time to time. Here is an example of a game played by Alexei Shirov, once world #2 in the rankings.

The game started with 1. e4 e5 2. f4

The King's Gambit, sacrificing a pawn on f4 for rapid development. 2. ...exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. O-O

Now offering the knight on f3. This is now the main line but before this game was played, Ne5 was the usual move. 5. ...gxf3 6. Qxf3 Qf6 7. e5

Black has the advantage in material but White has compensation in his more developed and mobile pieces. 7. ...Qxe5 8. Bxf7+

Another piece sacrifice and forces Black's king out in the open. 8. ...Kxf7 9. d4 Qxd4+ 10. Be3 Qf6 11. Bxf4 Ke8 12. Nc3

Black is up by two pieces but it doesn't matter because his pieces are still in their original squares. Meanwhile, White's pieces are developed and his rook will join the attack via e1. 12. ...Nc6 13. Nd5 Qg6 14. Rae1+ Be7

Apparently this was a blunder, Nge7 was the chance to draw. It's now a won game for White. 15. Bd6 Kd8 16. Qf8+

Shirov finishes the game with a beautiful queen sacrifice. 16. ...Bxf8 17. Bxc7# { White wins. } 1-0

This game reminded me of the Anderssen - Kieseritzky played a century before. It's an example of an all out attack, sacrificing material in exchange for mobility and rapid development.