King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3 Qe7
The King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3 Qe7. 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 1,079 times by this move order. White won 49%, 3% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.88 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4. Nc3 exf4 5. d4 fxg3 6. hxg3 Nc6)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/ppppqppp/8/4p3/4PP2/6P1/PPPP3P/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3 Qe7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 261 | |
| 1500-1999 | 734 | |
| 2000+ | 84 | |
| All | 1,079 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 | 306 (28%) | |
| 4. fxe5 | 239 (22%) | |
| 4. f5 | 194 (18%) | |
| 4. d3 | 135 (13%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 90 (8%) | |
| 4. d4 | 54 (5%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 26 (2%) | |
| 4. Qf3 | 13 (1%) |
Master games
32 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 18%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 14.24 (3535) – KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) – Ethereal 14.24 (3535) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- IM Andrew N Greet (2414) – GM Laszlo Gonda (2532) 1/2-1/2 · Hull 4NCL GM 2019 · 2019-10-31
- GM Aleksei Pridorozhni (2564) – IM Konstantin Rjabzev (2258) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Rapid 2021 · 2021-10-15
- FM Jorge Carlos Antonio (2277) – GM Luis Manuel Perez Rodriguez (2324) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Aug · 2020-08-25
Search all games of the King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- i_cr7 (2419) – VizeDietze (2353) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Erithmunoz (2220) – CM lisyender (2385) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Honigbaer (2209) – Tichugott2 (2270) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense (2… Qh4+ 3. g3) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3
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's Defense (2. f4 Qh4+) 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.