Bird Opening: Wagner-Zwitersch Gambit
1. f4 f5 2. e4
The Bird Opening: Wagner-Zwitersch Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A02, reached after 1. f4 f5 2. e4. It is a line of the Bird Opening. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 244 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2… fxe4 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.42 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 2… fxe4 3. d3 exd3 4. Bxd3 Nf6 5. Nf3)
- ECO
- A02
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/8/5p2/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. f4 f5 2. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 70 | |
| 1500-1999 | 120 | |
| 2000+ | 54 | |
| All | 244 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… fxe4 | 139 (57%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 34 (14%) | |
| 2… e6 | 19 (8%) | |
| 2… d6 | 17 (7%) | |
| 2… e5 | 12 (5%) | |
| 2… g6 | 8 (3%) | |
| 2… d5 | 7 (3%) | |
| 2… Nh6 | 4 (2%) |
Master games
39 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 18%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2774) – GM So, W. (2767) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-11-19
- GM David W L Howell (2658) – IM Alexandru-Vasile David (2428) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 9th Mar · 2021-03-09
- GM Sinisa Drazic (2310) – GM Miloje Ratkovic (2496) 1/2-1/2 · Third Saturday GM Mix 251 · 2022-04-26
- IM Floryan Eugene (2468) – FM Henning Holinka (2291) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Feb Late · 2025-02-04
- GM Simon K Williams (2467) – FM Dariusz Dziewonski (2289) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th May Early · 2024-05-28
Search all games of the Bird Opening: Wagner-Zwitersch Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chessmaster2606 (2317) – Asailbek (2283) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- WuddlBoss (2233) – Megakosmico (2307) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- martymeister (2175) – Cat_Champion (2272) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bird Opening 1. f4
Continuations
- Bird Opening: Swiss Gambit A02 · 1. f4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g4
More Bird Opening lines (all)
- Bird Opening: Batavo-Polish Attack A02
- Bird Opening: Double Duck Formation A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Bahr Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Langheld Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Lasker Variation A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Lipke Variation A02
- Bird Opening: Hobbs Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Hobbs-Zilbermints Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Horsefly Defense A02
- Bird Opening: Lasker Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Mujannah A02
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.