King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rubinstein Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 f5
The King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rubinstein Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 f5. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. 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 11 times by this move order. White won 55%, 9% were drawn and Black won 36%. The most popular continuation is 5. d4 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 5. exf5 Bxf5 6. fxe5 dxe5 7. d4 exd4)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp3pp/3p4/2b1pp2/4PP2/2P2N2/PP1P2PP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. d4 | 6 (55%) | |
| 5. d3 | 2 (18%) | |
| 5. fxe5 | 1 (9%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 1 (9%) | |
| 5. b4 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- FM Vilmos Balint (2149) – IM Sim Maerevoet (2421) 0-1 · Titled Tue 31st Dec Early · 2024-12-31
- Kenny Perkin (1841) – Korneliusz Bartczak (2055) 0-1 · 104th ch-IRL 2025 · 2025-08-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FrankAchellas (2147) – FM LuisFlaquer (2169) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- bismonth (2041) – Drongola (2091) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Taimyr1547 (2084) – Candypawn (1974) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (3… d6 4. c3) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3
Continuations
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Réti Variation C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 f5 5. fxe5 dxe5 6. d4 exd4 7. Bc4
More King's Gambit Declined lines (all)
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Euwe Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Rotlewi Countergambit C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation, Walthoffen Attack C30
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Hanham 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
- King's Gambit Declined: Mafia Defense 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.