King's Gambit riddle.... SOLVED!

As I have lamented several times in this web log, I struggle against the King's Gambit. I lose about 80% of the time with the black pieces. I often wondered why this was so. Was I getting psyched out by the dastardly 2. f4? Was it just a superior opening? The answer to both question now is clearly no.

Turns out, higher ranking people play it. No wonder why I tend to lose. For example, 1. e4 e5. 2. Nf3 the white player has an average FICS elo of X. For 1. e4 e5. 2. f4 (the dreaded King's Gambit), the average elo is X + 84 points. This is drastic.

My thanks to the people of SCID (fantastic and free chess resource) for making such an analysis possible. No longer will I fear the King's Gambit.... I just need to fear better players who tend to play it more.