Danish Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nf6
The Danish Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C21, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nf6. It is a line of the Danish Gambit Accepted. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,019 times by this move order. White won 55%, 3% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6. e5 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.42 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 6. e5 Bb4+ 7. Bc3 Qe7 8. Qe2 Ng8)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/8/2B1P3/8/PB3PPP/RN1QK1NR w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 977 | |
| 1500-1999 | 941 | |
| 2000+ | 101 | |
| All | 2,019 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. e5 | 1,149 (57%) | |
| 6. Nf3 | 284 (14%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 196 (10%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 157 (8%) | |
| 6. Nd2 | 117 (6%) | |
| 6. Qf3 | 53 (3%) | |
| 6. Ne2 | 17 (1%) | |
| 6. Bxf7+ | 9 (0%) |
Master games
14 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 14%, Black 57%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 0-1 · Magnus-Alireza 27th Feb · 2021-02-27
- IM Timofey Iljin (2299) – IM Vladislav Klyashtorny (2403) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 25th Jan · 2022-01-25
- CM Michal Kopczynski (2225) – FM Zachary Tanenbaum (2371) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd Dec 2025 · 2025-12-23
Search all games of the Danish Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Yusupov_Rashid (2292) – Huinhtan123 (2356) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- mikferchess (2327) – Ray_Peat_Bioenergy (2298) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Safaeva (2482) – e_chirchov (2018) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Danish Gambit Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3
More Danish Gambit Accepted 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.