Danish Gambit Accepted: Schlechter Defense
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 d5
The Danish Gambit Accepted: Schlechter 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 d5. 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 557 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxd5 (73% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxd8 Bb4+)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3p4/2B1P3/8/PB3PPP/RN1QK1NR w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 63 | |
| 1500-1999 | 339 | |
| 2000+ | 155 | |
| All | 557 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bxd5 | 408 (73%) | |
| 6. exd5 | 128 (23%) | |
| 6. Bb3 | 7 (1%) | |
| 6. Qxd5 | 4 (1%) | |
| 6. Nf3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6. Qh5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
34 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 21%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Nihal Sarin (2687) – FM Marco Riehle (2368) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Feb Late · 2025-02-25
- IM Florian Kaczur (2497) – IM Mate Bagi (2446) 1/2-1/2 · Vezerkepzo GM Sept 2023 · 2023-09-26
- CM Michal Kopczynski (2225) – GM David Paravyan (2612) 0-1 · Titled Tue 20th Feb Early · 2024-02-20
- GM Nikolas Theodorou (2590) – Zachary Tanenbaum (2244) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Jan Late · 2023-01-10
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2474) – IM Alberto Barp (2361) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 9th Mar · 2021-03-09
Search all games of the Danish Gambit Accepted: Schlechter Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- DrG2020 (2403) – luncur_CSI (2334) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- Stupefyy (2388) – Hayk170793 (2342) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- YuriKing (2305) – IM AndreasMoen (2352) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 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.