Borg Defense: Borg Gambit (1. d4 g5)
1. d4 g5
The Borg Defense: Borg Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 g5. It is a line of the Borg Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,695 times by this move order. White won 56%, 4% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 2. Bxg5 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.79 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 2. Bxg5 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Nf3 cxd4)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppp1p/8/6p1/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. d4 g5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,041 | |
| 1500-1999 | 577 | |
| 2000+ | 77 | |
| All | 1,695 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. Bxg5 | 572 (34%) | |
| 2. c4 | 307 (18%) | |
| 2. e4 | 274 (16%) | |
| 2. Nf3 | 168 (10%) | |
| 2. e3 | 139 (8%) | |
| 2. Nc3 | 86 (5%) | |
| 2. d5 | 25 (1%) | |
| 2. g3 | 19 (1%) |
Master games
60 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 10%, Black 53%). The strongest:
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2686) – GM Lucas Van Foreest (2570) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Late · 2023-03-21
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2661) – GM Lucas Van Foreest (2570) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Late · 2023-03-28
- GM Hrant Melkumyan (2645) – GM Lucas Van Foreest (2577) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Dec Late · 2022-12-06
- GM Peter Prohaszka (2585) – GM Daniel Dardha (2631) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd May Late · 2023-05-23
- GM Aleksandar Indjic (2636) – GM Lucas Van Foreest (2570) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Late · 2023-03-21
Search all games of the Borg Defense: Borg Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM abeltre (2289) – sinip (2267) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Fueguino (2211) – NM kojikabuto (2338) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- PTNPHX (2236) – RafiNugraha (2243) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
More Borg Defense lines (all)
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.