King's Gambit Accepted: Becker Defense
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 h6
The King's Gambit Accepted: Becker Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C34, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 h6. It is a line of the King's Gambit Accepted. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,195 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bc4 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.15 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4. Nc3 g5 5. d4 Bg7 6. g3 fxg3)
- ECO
- C34
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1pp1/7p/8/4Pp2/5N2/PPPP2PP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 h6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 726 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,222 | |
| 2000+ | 247 | |
| All | 3,195 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bc4 | 1,636 (51%) | |
| 4. d4 | 1,136 (36%) | |
| 4. h4 | 306 (10%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 41 (1%) | |
| 4. d3 | 22 (1%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 15 (0%) | |
| 4. h3 | 11 (0%) | |
| 4. e5 | 10 (0%) |
Master games
77 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 14%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM David Paravyan (2592) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk25 Swiss · 2022-08-13
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2591) 1-0 · Chess.com RCC Wk24 Swiss · 2022-08-06
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) – GM David Paravyan (2601) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd May Late · 2023-05-23
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – GM Peter Leko (2663) 1-0 · Legends of Chess Prelim · 2020-07-21
- GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2596) – GM Zoltan Almasi (2707) 0-1 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2017-09-28
Search all games of the King's Gambit Accepted: Becker Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2734) – kuhmft (2849) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Richwinter (2595) – IM PseudoBenko (2698) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- IM MassterofMayhem (2656) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2599) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit (2… exf4 3. Nf3) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3
Continuations
- King's Gambit Accepted: Philidor Gambit, Schultz Variation C38 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 h6 4. Bc4 d6 5. d4 g5 6. h4 Bg7 7. Qd3
More King's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- King's Gambit Accepted C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Basman Gambit C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Anderssen Defense C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Anderssen Variation C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bledow Countergambit C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bledow Variation C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Boden Variation C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bogoljubow Defense C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bogoljubow Variation C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Boren-Svenonius Variation C33
- King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bryan Countergambit C33
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.