King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit Accepted
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5
The King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO C31, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 12,059 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… e4 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.25 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 3… exf4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. c4 c6 6. d4)
- ECO
- C31
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3Pp3/5P2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,533 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8,419 | |
| 2000+ | 2,107 | |
| All | 12,059 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… e4 Falkbeer Countergambit, Staunton Line | 4,325 (36%) | |
| 3… exf4 Falkbeer Countergambit, Modern Transfer | 4,014 (33%) | |
| 3… Qxd5 | 2,708 (22%) | |
| 3… c6 Falkbeer Countergambit, Nimzowitsch-Marshall Countergambit | 697 (6%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 130 (1%) | |
| 3… Bc5 Falkbeer Countergambit, Miles Gambit | 80 (1%) | |
| 3… Qh4+ | 37 (0%) | |
| 3… Bd6 | 36 (0%) |
Master games
58 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 18%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- IM Mykola Bortnyk (2442) – FM Juan David Becerra (2316) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th Jan Late · 2023-01-24
- GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (2545) – WFM Malak Ismayil (2165) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Apr Late · 2024-04-23
- FM Atilla Kuru (2371) – FM Alexander Zlatin (2322) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Nov Early · 2024-11-26
- GM Alexandr Fier (2604) – Evan Ai (2055) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Jun Late · 2023-06-27
- FM Seit-Amet Karaev (2280) – FM Peter Keller (2377) 1-0 · Titled Tue 12th Jul Early · 2022-07-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2871) – GM gmbrewchess (3002) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2904) – NM Andrey11976 (2779) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- contrapunctus_XI (2663) – GM Niksss2023 (2832) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5
Continuations
- King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Miles Gambit C31 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Bc5
- King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Modern Transfer C31 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4
- King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Nimzowitsch-Marshall Countergambit C31 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 c6
- King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Staunton Line C31 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4
More King's Gambit Declined lines (all)
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) C30
- 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, Rotlewi Countergambit 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
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.