Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Mittenberger Gambit
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d5
The Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Mittenberger Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B06, reached after 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d5. It is a line of the Modern Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 283 times by this move order. White won 47%, 7% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. exd5 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.49 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Nxd5 c6 5. Ne3 Qxd4 6. Qxd4 Bxd4)
- ECO
- B06
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp1ppbp/6p1/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 56 | |
| 2000+ | 212 | |
| All | 283 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exd5 | 116 (41%) | |
| 4. e5 | 102 (36%) | |
| 4. Nxd5 | 29 (10%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 19 (7%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 8 (3%) | |
| 4. h4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. f3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
844 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 19%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2780) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2632) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-28
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2631) 0-1 · Speed Super Swiss KO 2020 · 2020-10-04
- GM Alexandr Predke (2676) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2632) 1-0 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-30
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) – GM Boris Chatalbashev (2530) 1-0 · European Online CC GpE · 2021-03-27
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2656) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2630) 1-0 · ch-RUS Rapid GP Final · 2018-12-02
Search all games of the Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Mittenberger Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2876) – GM gmbrewchess (2996) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2879) – CSIM2026 (2649) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2720) – CSIM2026 (2689) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Modern Defense: Standard Line 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3
More Modern Defense lines (all)
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Polish Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation Accepted A04
- Modern Defense: Beefeater Variation A40
- Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit A40
- Modern Defense (3. Nc3 d6) A41
- Modern Defense: Neo-Modern Defense A41
- Modern Defense: Averbakh System A42
- Modern Defense: Averbakh Variation, Pseudo-Sämisch A42
- Modern Defense: Kotov Variation A42
- Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation A42
- Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) B06
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.