Latvian Gambit: Fraser Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Nc6
The Latvian Gambit: Fraser Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C40, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Nc6. It is a line of the Latvian Gambit. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 255 times by this move order. White won 53%, 3% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxc6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +2.82 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Nxg6 Nf6 6. Qh4 hxg6)
- ECO
- C40
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2n5/4Np2/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 39 | |
| 1500-1999 | 127 | |
| 2000+ | 89 | |
| All | 255 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxc6 | 128 (50%) | |
| 4. Qh5+ | 100 (39%) | |
| 4. d4 | 17 (7%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. Nc4 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4. d3 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4. Nd3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
28 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 10%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2559) – GM Alexei Shirov (2661) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Apr Late · 2024-04-23
- GM Oleg Korneev (2631) – Valentine Kalinins (2204) 1-0 · Bunratty Masters 2014 · 2014-02-09
- GM Mikhail Golubev (2461) – Kagan Uz (2028) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Jan Late · 2024-01-02
- WFM Alanna Berikkyzy (2241) – Ian Ocampos (2197) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-04
- IM Bengt Lindberg (2365) – Tord Bjornvall (2048) 1-0 · Paskturneringen Open 2022 · 2022-04-15
Search all games of the Latvian Gambit: Fraser Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MohitMaringanti (2420) – SugarMagnolia (2506) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- edwardleekimhan (2454) – SugarMagnolia (2456) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- SuperSayienZ (2395) – SugarMagnolia (2486) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Latvian Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5
More Latvian Gambit lines (all)
- Latvian Gambit: Behting Variation C40
- Latvian Gambit: Corkscrew Countergambit C40
- Latvian Gambit: Corkscrew Gambit C40
- Latvian Gambit: Diepstraten Countergambit C40
- Latvian Gambit: Greco Variation C40
- Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mason Countergambit C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Morgado Defense C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Poisoned Pawn Variation C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Polerio-Svedenborg Variation C40
- Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Strautins Gambit C40
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.