King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense (3… d5 4. exd5)
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5
The King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C36, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5. It is a line of the King's Gambit Accepted. 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 3,964 times by this move order. White won 54%, 3% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4… Qxd5 (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.10 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… Nf6 5. c4 c6 6. d4 cxd5 7. c5)
- ECO
- C36
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3P4/5p2/5N2/PPPP2PP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 818 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,678 | |
| 2000+ | 468 | |
| All | 3,964 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Qxd5 | 2,479 (63%) | |
| 4… Nf6 Abbazia Defense | 665 (17%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 449 (11%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 143 (4%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 69 (2%) | |
| 4… c6 | 48 (1%) | |
| 4… g5 | 35 (1%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 26 (1%) |
Master games
60 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 18%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2723) – GM Jan Klimkowski (2532) 1-0 · Titled Tue 3rd Feb 2026 · 2026-02-03
- IM Felix Blohberger (2434) – GM Predrag Nikolic (2576) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2019-20 · 2021-10-14
- GM Sarunas Sulskis (2525) – FM Matvey Galchenko (2363) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-FIN 2018-19 · 2019-04-05
- FM Richard Mladek (2280) – IM Tadeas Kriebel (2519) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CZE Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-21
- GM Roeland Pruijssers (2561) – CM Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage (2178) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 13th Oct · 2020-10-13
Search all games of the King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM MassterofMayhem (2647) – shoprrrw (2651) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- contrapunctus_XI (2666) – FM Ragnar_Lothbrok85 (2570) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- contrapunctus_XI (2665) – FM Ragnar_Lothbrok85 (2558) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense (3. Nf3 d5) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5
Continuations
- King's Gambit Accepted: Abbazia Defense C36 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6
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.