Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Michel Gambit
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5
The Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Michel Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A09, reached after 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5. It is a line of the Réti Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 172 times by this move order. White won 54%, 5% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 4. bxc5 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 4. Bb2 Nf6 5. g3 a5 6. b5 Qc7)
- ECO
- A09
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/2p5/1PPp4/5N2/P2PPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 55 | |
| 2000+ | 116 | |
| All | 172 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. bxc5 | 48 (28%) | |
| 4. Bb2 | 37 (22%) | |
| 4. e3 | 36 (21%) | |
| 4. b5 | 31 (18%) | |
| 4. g3 | 13 (8%) | |
| 4. a3 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. Qa4+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. d3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
660 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 20%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2775) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 1-0 · 11th London Classic 2019 · 2019-12-08
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2757) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2828) 0-1 · 8th Norway Armageddon · 2020-10-15
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-02
- GM Javokhir Sindarov (2776) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) 1-0 · GCT Super Blitz Poland · 2026-05-09
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Vincent Keymer (2759) 1/2-1/2 · 14th Norway Chess 2026 · 2026-05-30
Search all games of the Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Michel Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Rookz77 (2663) – ChessWarrior_222 (2821) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Rookz77 (2668) – ChessWarrior_222 (2816) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2799) – FM The_Fawkes (2646) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Réti Opening: Advance Variation 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4
More Réti Opening lines (all)
- Réti Opening A09
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Navara Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Penguin Variation A09
- Réti Opening: Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Réti Accepted A09
- Réti Opening: Réti Gambit, Keres Variation A09
- Réti Opening: Zilbermints Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (2… d5 3. e3) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (3… Nf6 4. Qc2) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (4… Nbd7 5. Qc2) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (5. b3 e5) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (5. b3 Bd6) A11
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.