King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6
The King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6. 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 43,512 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (87% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qe6)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 14,724 | |
| 1500-1999 | 26,487 | |
| 2000+ | 2,301 | |
| All | 43,512 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 37,784 (87%) | |
| 3. fxe5 | 1,847 (4%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 1,774 (4%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 518 (1%) | |
| 3. f5 | 445 (1%) | |
| 3. d3 | 409 (1%) | |
| 3. c3 | 217 (0%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 204 (0%) |
Master games
301 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 7%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2635) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk9 Swiss · 2022-04-09
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2719) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2664) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-15
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) – GM Alvar Alonso Rosell (2535) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Mar Early · 2025-03-04
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Andrew Tang (2523) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Losers 2023 · 2023-07-20
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2710) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2600) 1/2-1/2 · 1st 3-0 Thu 2nd Jul 2026 · 2026-07-02
Search all games of the King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2871) – GM gmbrewchess (3002) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- nuitet868688 (2730) – GM enmQ (2815) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Superstitions_Guy (2800) – KM2200 (2537) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. f4
Continuations
- King's Gambit Declined: Miles Defense C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 f5
- King's Gambit Declined: Zilbermints Double Gambit C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g5
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.