Danish Gambit Accepted: Copenhagen Defense
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Bb4+
The Danish Gambit Accepted: Copenhagen 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 Bb4+. 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 3,100 times by this move order. White won 56%, 3% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nc3 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.28 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qb3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 O-O)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/8/1bB1P3/8/PB3PPP/RN1QK1NR w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Bb4+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 855 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,002 | |
| 2000+ | 243 | |
| All | 3,100 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nc3 | 1,683 (54%) | |
| 6. Nd2 | 1,148 (37%) | |
| 6. Kf1 | 216 (7%) | |
| 6. Bc3 | 49 (2%) | |
| 6. Ke2 | 3 (0%) | |
| 6. Qd2 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 58%, draw 21%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- Obsidian 14.06 (3555) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-08
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Obsidian 14.06 (3555) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-06
- WGM Alina Bivol (2374) – WGM Gulmira Dauletova (2257) 1-0 · Women's Speed Chess Q5 · 2021-06-04
- CM Michal Kopczynski (2225) – FM Casper Liu (2360) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Oct 2025 · 2025-10-28
- IM Sandor Biro (2193) – Ragnar Edvardsen (1969) 1-0 · 18th ch-Euro Seniors +50 · 2018-08-11
Search all games of the Danish Gambit Accepted: Copenhagen Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- archifoot (2515) – MR_salamanka (2487) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- CM DiverseOpening (2386) – CM akhairat (2298) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- YuriKing (2290) – ChessAres07 (2289) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 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.