King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7
The King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C38, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7. It is a line of the King's Gambit Accepted. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,193 times by this move order. White won 42%, 4% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 5. O-O (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.36 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 5. h4 h6 6. Nc3 d6 7. d4 Nc6)
- ECO
- C38
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pppp1pbp/8/6p1/2B1Pp2/5N2/PPPP2PP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 60 | |
| 1500-1999 | 853 | |
| 2000+ | 280 | |
| All | 1,193 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. O-O Hanstein Gambit | 534 (45%) | |
| 5. d4 | 386 (32%) | |
| 5. c3 | 101 (8%) | |
| 5. h4 Philidor Gambit | 89 (7%) | |
| 5. d3 | 24 (2%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 24 (2%) | |
| 5. Bxf7+ | 12 (1%) | |
| 5. h3 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
27 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 3%, Black 56%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) – IM Anna M. Sargsyan (2378) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Early · 2022-09-13
- GM Emilio Cordova (2581) – GM Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (2503) 1/2-1/2 · CCCSA Summer GMA 2021 · 2021-07-28
- IM Leon Livaic (2507) – FM Iustin Ciorgovean (2338) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Aug · 2020-08-18
- IM Leon Livaic (2507) – FM Patrick Emilio Aizpurua (2310) 1-0 · Titled Tue 11th Aug · 2020-08-11
- FM Jorge Carlos Antonio (2277) – FM Dragos Ceres (2244) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 30th June · 2020-06-30
Search all games of the King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Hudson_Lowe (2569) – FM bartsimpson6 (2428) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ph0rial (2404) – NM comsac (2590) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- SparkyMarky (2432) – FM ArdianJashari (2423) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit (3… g5 4. Bc4) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4
Continuations
- King's Gambit Accepted: Hanstein Gambit C38 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O
- King's Gambit Accepted: Philidor Gambit C38 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. h4
- King's Gambit Accepted: Mayet Gambit C38 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. d4 d6 6. c3
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.