King's Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. f4
The King's Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C30, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4. Black is to move. 10 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 186,050 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2… exf4 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.34 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 d5 5. exd5)
- ECO
- C30
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 58,919 | |
| 1500-1999 | 113,508 | |
| 2000+ | 13,623 | |
| All | 186,050 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… exf4 King's Gambit Accepted | 78,091 (42%) | |
| 2… Nc6 Queen's Knight Defense | 43,512 (23%) | |
| 2… d6 | 24,582 (13%) | |
| 2… d5 Falkbeer Countergambit | 19,092 (10%) | |
| 2… Bc5 Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) | 6,189 (3%) | |
| 2… Nf6 Petrov's Defense | 4,329 (2%) | |
| 2… f6 | 3,007 (2%) | |
| 2… Qh4+ Keene's Defense (2. f4 Qh4+) | 2,586 (1%) |
Master games
384 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 6%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Kirill Shevchenko (2633) – GM Alexander Areshchenko (2690) 0-1 · Kyiv-Lviv Region Blitz · 2021-09-15
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2758) – IM Michael Jr. Concio (2401) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Feb Early · 2024-02-13
- GM Leon Mons (2530) – GM Luca Jr Moroni (2558) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 22nd June · 2021-06-22
- GM Florian Jenni (2456) – GM Naroditsky, D. (2621) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Aug · 2020-08-18
- FM Artem Uskov (2376) – GM Jules Moussard (2668) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Jun Late · 2022-06-07
Search all games of the King's Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2871) – GM gmbrewchess (3002) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- 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
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
Continuations
- King's Gambit Accepted C33 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical Variation (2. f4 Bc5) C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5
- King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit C31 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5
- King's Gambit Declined: Keene's Defense (2. f4 Qh4+) C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qh4+
- King's Gambit Declined: Norwalde Variation C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Qf6
- King's Gambit Declined: Panteldakis Countergambit C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 f5
- King's Gambit Declined: Petrov's Defense C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nf6
- King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6
- King's Gambit Declined: Zilbermints Double Countergambit C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 g5
- King's Gambit Declined: Soller-Zilbermints Gambit C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. f4 f6 3. fxe5 Nc6
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.