Danish Gambit Accepted
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3
The Danish Gambit Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO C21, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 31,781 times by this move order. White won 55%, 3% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bc4 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.34 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4. Nxc3 Bc5 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 Nf6)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/8/4P3/2p5/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11,868 | |
| 1500-1999 | 17,928 | |
| 2000+ | 1,985 | |
| All | 31,781 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bc4 | 24,290 (76%) | |
| 4. Nxc3 | 5,869 (18%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 1,191 (4%) | |
| 4. bxc3 | 104 (0%) | |
| 4. Qb3 | 92 (0%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 90 (0%) | |
| 4. Qc2 | 29 (0%) | |
| 4. f4 | 24 (0%) |
Master games
288 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 12%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Denis Lazavik (2553) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-17
- GM Nikolas Theodorou (2598) – GM Avital Boruchovsky (2552) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess Q2Sw · 2022-11-12
- GM Nikolas Theodorou (2577) – GM Evgeny Postny (2557) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- IM Matvey Galchenko (2438) – GM David Paravyan (2620) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
- CM Michal Kopczynski (2225) – GM Bharath Subramaniyam H (2576) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-30
Search all games of the Danish Gambit Accepted and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Angelicanmade (2561) – calculus9001 (2571) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- archifoot (2515) – MR_salamanka (2487) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- chesfupanda (2498) – Babnik (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Danish Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3
Continuations
- Danish Gambit Accepted: Chigorin Defense C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Qe7
- Danish Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Nf6
- Danish Gambit Accepted: Copenhagen Defense C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 Bb4+
- Danish Gambit Accepted: Schlechter Defense C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 d5
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.