3 ms·

Doesn’t 1. f3 serve that purpose without the king move?

• rectang 5y ago
  That's true. But the Wandering King invites strong tactical aggression because the king is so enticingly exposed — which is super fun to play against! In fact, the king isn't suicidally exposed, it's about as well defended as the king is during the Steinitz Gambit, which also involves an early king move under the main line. I like playing the Steinitz too, but opponents rarely go along with it. Same with King's Gambit in general, people generally just play to defang it and trade trade trade down to something drawish. Yuck. I hate drawish chess. I don't like the Bongcloud so much because it's even more cramped and I find it hard to play out of. But it could also be that it transposes into King's Indian / Queen's Indian lines I don't like so much, rather than Steinitz Gambit wildness.