King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Modern Transfer
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4
The King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Modern Transfer is a chess opening classified as ECO C31, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,014 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (79% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. c4 c6 6. d4 cxd5)
- ECO
- C31
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3P4/5p2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 422 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,765 | |
| 2000+ | 827 | |
| All | 4,014 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 | 3,163 (79%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 295 (7%) | |
| 4. c4 | 167 (4%) | |
| 4. d4 | 142 (4%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 73 (2%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 63 (2%) | |
| 4. Qf3 | 40 (1%) | |
| 4. Qe2+ | 30 (1%) |
Master games
1,070 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2779) – GM Gukesh D (2744) 1-0 · SuperUnited Blitz 2023 · 2023-07-08
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2766) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2754) 1-0 · SuperUnited Blitz 2022 · 2022-07-23
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) – GM So, W. (2770) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-19
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 Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5
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.