King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense (2… Qh4+ 3. g3)
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3
The King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,557 times by this move order. White won 55%, 3% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 3… Qf6 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.70 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… Qe7 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 g6 6. Bg2)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4PP1q/6P1/PPPP3P/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,041 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,414 | |
| 2000+ | 102 | |
| All | 2,557 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Qf6 | 1,119 (44%) | |
| 3… Qe7 Keene Defense | 1,079 (42%) | |
| 3… Qd8 | 188 (7%) | |
| 3… Qh6 | 91 (4%) | |
| 3… exf4 | 26 (1%) | |
| 3… Be7 | 16 (1%) | |
| 3… Qg4 | 15 (1%) | |
| 3… Qh5 | 8 (0%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- Cataldo Leone (1609) – Aldo Muradore (1563) 1-0 · 18th HIT Open A 2013 · 2013-01-27
Search all games of the King's Gambit Declined: Keene's 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. f4 Qh4+) 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+
Continuations
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene Defense C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+ 3. g3 Qe7
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: 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.