Latvian Gambit: Mason Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d4
The Latvian Gambit: Mason Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C40, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d4. It is a line of the Latvian Gambit. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,280 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 3… fxe4 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 3… fxe4 4. Nfd2 Qh4 5. g3 Qe7 6. d5)
- ECO
- C40
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp2pp/8/4pp2/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 294 | |
| 1500-1999 | 706 | |
| 2000+ | 280 | |
| All | 1,280 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… fxe4 | 861 (67%) | |
| 3… exd4 | 213 (17%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 95 (7%) | |
| 3… d6 | 40 (3%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 29 (2%) | |
| 3… d5 | 15 (1%) | |
| 3… f4 | 8 (1%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
94 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 13%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Hans Moke Niemann (2735) – FM Semyon Puzyrevsky (2364) 1-0 · Titled Tue 31st Mar 2026 · 2026-03-31
- GM V Pranav (2657) – FM Semyon Puzyrevsky (2364) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 21st May 2026 · 2026-05-21
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – FM Semyon Puzyrevsky (2363) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 1st Sep 2026 · 2026-09-01
- GM Marcin Krzyzanowski (2489) – IM Matvey Galchenko (2435) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 20th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-20
- IM Alexander Reprintsev (2241) – GM Alexei Shirov (2661) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd Apr Late · 2024-04-23
Search all games of the Latvian Gambit: Mason Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Guary1 (2853) – GladiatorDefence (2795) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Donde_esta_tu_rey (2485) – rusert13 (2491) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Nenidon_Andriy (2522) – NM Chesspirate017 (2380) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 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: Fraser Defense C40
- Latvian Gambit: Greco Variation C40
- Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit 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.