Rat Defense: English Rat, Lisbon Gambit
1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Nc6
The Rat Defense: English Rat, Lisbon Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A41, reached after 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Nc6. It is a line of the Rat Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 338 times by this move order. White won 47%, 2% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 4. exd6 (78% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 4. exd6 Bxd6 5. g3 Be6 6. Bg2 Nf6)
- ECO
- A41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp2ppp/2np4/4P3/2P5/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 46 | |
| 1500-1999 | 256 | |
| 2000+ | 36 | |
| All | 338 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exd6 | 264 (78%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 52 (15%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 6 (2%) | |
| 4. f4 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4. e4 | 4 (1%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. e6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- CM Jack Mizzi (2130) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · Titled Tue 26th Aug Late · 2025-08-26
- Nguyen Truong An Khang (2056) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 14th May 2026 · 2026-05-14
- Kjartan Masson (1856) – Frank Drill (2124) 0-1 · Reykjavik Open 2013 · 2013-02-20
- Camillo Brioschi (1819) – Gernot Blum (2085) 1-0 · Lugano Open 2014 · 2014-11-08
- Henry Pu (1789) – FM Ho Cheung Wong (2032) 0-1 · ch-HKG 2019 · 2019-01-21
Search all games of the Rat Defense: English Rat, Lisbon Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PunktusKnacktus (2247) – KingPin-Inc (2355) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Welcome_to_Mukachevo (2311) – LOURENZ77 (2275) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- mrcoolguy84 (2258) – PicoColombo (2280) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Rat Defense: English Rat 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5
More Rat Defense lines (all)
- Rat Defense: English Rat, Pounds Gambit A41
- Rat Defense: Balogh Defense A82
- Rat Defense: Antal Defense B00
- Rat Defense: Fuller Gambit B00
- Rat Defense: Harmonist B00
- Rat Defense: Petruccioli Attack B00
- Rat Defense: Spike Attack B00
- Rat Defense: Accelerated Gurgenidze B06
- Rat Defense: Small Center Defense C00
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.