Irish Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5
The Irish Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 841 times by this move order. White won 28%, 5% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nxe5 (93% of games).
Engine evaluation: −2.30 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 3… Nxe5 4. d4 Ng6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bc4)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4N3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 632 | |
| 1500-1999 | 187 | |
| 2000+ | 22 | |
| All | 841 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nxe5 | 785 (93%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 23 (3%) | |
| 3… d6 | 9 (1%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 2 (0%) | |
| 3… Bc5 | 2 (0%) | |
| 3… Nb4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 3… Qe7 | 2 (0%) | |
| 3… Nh6 | 2 (0%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- eagleclaw007 (2116) – amad_rh9 (2209) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Byenox007 (2099) – Fares1956 (2219) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- k4rp4s0v (2116) – Ayanokoji_Kyotakaa (2118) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
Continuations
- King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 Nxe5 4. d4
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.