King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rotlewi Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. b4
The King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rotlewi Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. b4. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 18 times by this move order. White won 44%, 0% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 4… Bb6 (56% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.41 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 4… Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. fxe5 dxe5 7. d4)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp2ppp/3p4/2b1p3/1P2PP2/5N2/P1PP2PP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 18 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Bb6 | 10 (56%) | |
| 4… Bxb4 | 8 (44%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 0%, Black 71%). The strongest:
- GM Alexandr Fier (2569) – IM Harshavardhan G B (2397) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 15th June · 2021-06-15
- IM Zdenko Plenkovic (2357) – IM Ozren Biti (2284) 0-1 · 32nd TCh-CRO Div 1a 2024 · 2024-10-08
- FM Nikolay Maevsky (2337) – CM Paulo Jodorcovsky Werjivker (2197) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 17th Aug · 2021-08-17
- FM Jemusse Zhemba (2226) – Oluka Robert Mcligeyo (2041) 0-1 · ch-Africa 2024 · 2024-03-20
- Pavel Baier (2109) – Tomas Sramek (1947) 0-1 · 10th Orlova Open · 2013-05-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Calzoncillo (2348) – javarpe (2281) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- zohrevand (2081) – tutenkamen (2230) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- barcawang (2139) – Meretheresa (2148) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5
More King's Gambit Declined lines (all)
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (3… d6 4. c3) C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Euwe Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rubinstein Countergambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Walthoffen Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Hanham Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Réti Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Soldatenkov Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Svenonius Variation C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Hobbs-Zilbermints Gambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense (2. f4 Qh4+) C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense (2… Qh4+ 3. g3) C30
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.