King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6
The King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6. It is a line of the King's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,179 times by this move order. White won 57%, 3% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.86 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 3. Nf3 exf4 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nd5 Qd8)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/pppp1ppp/5q2/4p3/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 588 | |
| 1500-1999 | 566 | |
| 2000+ | 25 | |
| All | 1,179 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 751 (64%) | |
| 3. fxe5 | 190 (16%) | |
| 3. d3 | 81 (7%) | |
| 3. f5 | 77 (7%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 22 (2%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 20 (2%) | |
| 3. g3 | 8 (1%) | |
| 3. Qf3 | 8 (1%) |
Master games
8 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 63%, draw -1%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- Sebastian Steinbauer (1561) – Ondrej Sykora (2065) 0-1 · Ceske Budejovice Open · 2020-07-05
- Vasilios Despotakis (1791) – Georgios Fakidis (1369) 1-0 · 9th Gazi 2013 · 2013-07-28
Search all games of the King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- yszakar68 (2174) – Feschak (2075) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- knethy09 (2063) – sanking2 (2167) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- Abel333 (2100) – DonPatzer (2049) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. f4
Continuations
- King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation, Schubert Variation C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6 3. Nc3 Qxf4 4. d4
- King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation, Bücker Gambit C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6 3. Nc3 Qxf4 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Bc4
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.