King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham Defense
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7
The King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C35, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7. It is a line of the King's Gambit Accepted. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6,839 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bc4 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.38 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 Ne4 6. Bd5 Nc5)
- ECO
- C35
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppppbppp/8/8/4Pp2/5N2/PPPP2PP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 915 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,488 | |
| 2000+ | 436 | |
| All | 6,839 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bc4 | 3,991 (58%) | |
| 4. d4 | 1,320 (19%) | |
| 4. h4 | 1,086 (16%) | |
| 4. Qe2 | 111 (2%) | |
| 4. g3 | 100 (1%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 80 (1%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 58 (1%) | |
| 4. d3 | 45 (1%) |
Master games
70 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 15%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Gareev, T. (2621) – GM Nikola Mitkov (2482) 0-1 · 24th North American Open · 2014-12-29
- FM Bernhard Sinz (2311) – GM Gergely Kantor (2527) 0-1 · Cristina Foisor Mem Rapid · 2023-08-06
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2758) – Tiago Batista Oliveira (1982) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Late · 2024-02-06
- FM Rijad Burovic (2444) – Muamer Mrndjic (2257) 1-0 · 10th Konjic International · 2021-02-27
- FM Matthias Gantner (2296) – IM Vitalijs Samolins (2402) 1/2-1/2 · BUCA 2017 · 2017-02-26
Search all games of the King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM MassterofMayhem (2662) – Yaponets (2582) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- nuitet989894 (2450) – Yaponets (2571) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Nuhijashari64 (2440) – ButterFlyPerfect (2504) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 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: Cunningham Defense, McCormick Defense C35 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bc4 Nf6
- King's Gambit Accepted: Cunningham Defense, Bertin Gambit (4… Bh4+ 5. g3) C35 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bc4 Bh4+ 5. g3
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.