Rat Defense: English Rat, Pounds Gambit
1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Be6
The Rat Defense: English Rat, Pounds Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A41, reached after 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Be6. 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 19 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4. exd6 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Qa4 Qd7 6. exd6 Bxd6)
- ECO
- A41
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/ppp2ppp/3pb3/4P3/2P5/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Be6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| All | 19 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exd6 | 8 (42%) | |
| 4. e3 | 5 (26%) | |
| 4. e4 | 3 (16%) | |
| 4. b3 | 2 (11%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 1 (5%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kaapo61 (1841) – ZapGar (1840) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- arturosyan (1803) – ZapGar (1859) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Curik (1759) – ZapGar (1837) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Rat Defense: English Rat 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5
More Rat Defense lines (all)
- Rat Defense: English Rat, Lisbon 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.