Pirc Defense: Roscher Gambit
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3
The Pirc Defense: Roscher Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3. It is a line of the Pirc Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,503 times by this move order. White won 47%, 3% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nxe4 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.74 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 3… Nxe4 4. c4 g6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. h3)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/3p1n2/8/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 3- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 900 | |
| 1500-1999 | 546 | |
| 2000+ | 57 | |
| All | 1,503 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nxe4 | 631 (42%) | |
| 3… g6 | 525 (35%) | |
| 3… Bg4 | 99 (7%) | |
| 3… c6 | 95 (6%) | |
| 3… Nbd7 | 72 (5%) | |
| 3… e5 | 21 (1%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 17 (1%) | |
| 3… e6 | 15 (1%) |
Master games
40 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 30%, draw 13%, Black 57%). The strongest:
- GM Anton Smirnov (2600) – GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2613) 0-1 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2021-07-06
- GM Lance Henderson de La Fuente (2491) – GM Raunak Sadhwani (2555) 0-1 · Junior Speed Qual Global · 2021-06-21
- FM Catalin-Lucian Patrascu (2320) – GM Wojciech Moranda (2618) 0-1 · Speed Chess Super Swiss · 2020-10-03
- IM Srinath Narayanan (2440) – Shah Sagar (2376) 1-0 · Maharashtra Chess League 2013 · 2013-04-26
- CM Georgijs Germanovs (2260) – GM Vahap Sanal (2551) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 15th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-15
Search all games of the Pirc Defense: Roscher Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2859) – Sunrise34 (2907) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Superstitions_Guy (2860) – puziko52 (2850) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- CHESSADVANCE (2516) – xayotjon_2025 (2391) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Pirc Defense (2. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6
More Pirc Defense lines (all)
- Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) B00
- Pirc Defense (1… d6 2. d4) B00
- Pirc Defense (3. Nc3 g6) B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack, Inner Doll Defense B07
- Pirc Defense: 150 Attack, Sveshnikov-Jansa Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: Bayonet Attack B07
- Pirc Defense: Byrne Variation B07
- Pirc Defense: Chinese Variation B07
- Pirc Defense: Kholmov System B07
- Pirc Defense: Sveshnikov System B07
- Pirc Defense: Classical Variation (3… g6 4. Nf3) B08
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.