Horwitz Defense: Zilbermints Gambit
1. d4 e6 2. c4 e5
The Horwitz Defense: Zilbermints Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 e6 2. c4 e5. It is a line of the Horwitz Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 44 times by this move order. White won 64%, 6% were drawn and Black won 30%. The most popular continuation is 3. dxe5 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.05 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 3. dxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. exd6 Bxd6)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 e6 2. c4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 23 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. dxe5 | 16 (36%) | |
| 3. d5 | 10 (23%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 8 (18%) | |
| 3. e3 | 4 (9%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 3 (7%) | |
| 3. g3 | 1 (2%) | |
| 3. Qa4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 3. Be3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- IM Rohith Krishna S (2468) – FM Daniel Gutierrez Olivares (2354) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Jun Early · 2024-06-25
- IM Andrei Shishkov (2340) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Early · 2024-02-06
- GM Julio Catalino Sadorra (2577) – Olzhas Alexandrov (2068) 1-0 · Texas Collegiate 2013 · 2013-11-09
Search all games of the Horwitz Defense: Zilbermints Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Voprak_ChessMood (2150) – dalibord (2272) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- HennadiyMettmaney (2069) – sheca42513 (2090) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 0s
- iyakin0507 (2037) – makarfoley (1992) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Horwitz Defense 1. d4 e6
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.