Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Bc4
The Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C21, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Bc4. It is a line of the Center Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,720 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nc6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.20 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… Nf6 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/8/2BpP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,856 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,422 | |
| 2000+ | 442 | |
| All | 4,720 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nc6 | 2,109 (45%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 641 (14%) | |
| 3… c5 | 456 (10%) | |
| 3… d6 | 443 (9%) | |
| 3… Bc5 | 362 (8%) | |
| 3… Bb4+ | 163 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 107 (2%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 102 (2%) |
Master games
224 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 14%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Kateryna Lagno (2515) – GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2681) 1-0 · Chess Stars 5.0 Blitz · 2025-06-30
- GM Kateryna Lagno (2508) – GM Jiner Zhu (2579) 0-1 · World Rapid Women 2025 · 2025-12-28
- GM Kateryna Lagno (2515) – GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2546) 1-0 · Monaco WGP 2025 · 2025-02-18
- FM Deniz Arman (2336) – GM Vladislav Kovalev (2648) 0-1 · Titled Arena Mar 6th 2021 · 2021-03-06
- FM Dawid Janaszak (2308) – GM Alexei Shirov (2661) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Apr Late · 2024-04-02
Search all games of the Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Guary1 (2870) – whopper211 (2710) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Superstitions_Guy (2854) – HighQualityO (2713) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM GGplayer (2488) – IM KamranShirazi (2444) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Center Game Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4
More Center Game lines (all)
- Center Game (1… e5 2. d4) C20
- Center Game (2… exd4 3. Qxd4) C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit, Crocodile Variation C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (2… exd4 3. Nf3) C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3. Nf3 c5) C21
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3… c5 4. Bc4) C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit, Schippler Gambit C21
- Center Game: Ross Gambit C21
- Center Game: Berger Variation C22
- Center Game: Charousek Variation C22
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.