Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c5
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D21, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 496 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.35 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 4. d5 e6 5. e4 exd5 6. exd5 Bd6)
- ECO
- D21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/2p5/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 77 | |
| 1500-1999 | 211 | |
| 2000+ | 208 | |
| All | 496 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 247 (50%) | |
| 4. d5 | 115 (23%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 40 (8%) | |
| 4. g3 | 32 (6%) | |
| 4. Qa4+ | 22 (4%) | |
| 4. e4 | 21 (4%) | |
| 4. dxc5 | 9 (2%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
280 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 31%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM Gukesh D (2787) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2758) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet ROM Classic 2025 · 2025-05-07
- GM Andrew Tang (2538) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 1/2-1/2 · Carlsen-Tang Bullet 2021 · 2021-02-22
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2720) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2677) 1-0 · TechM GCL 2026 · 2026-09-07
- GM Benjamin Gledura (2628) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2692) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2024-25 · 2024-10-06
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2647) – GM Alexandr Predke (2667) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2024-05-08
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2912) – Superstitions_Guy (2853) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Juan_Delasala (2739) – MothToTheFlame (2632) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- BILLYS10 (2778) – pullevikk (2578) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation (2… dxc4 3. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
More Queen's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Accelerated Mannheim Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Alekhine System D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Greco Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Modern Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense, Yefimov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Billinger Gambit D20
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.