Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 Nxc6
The Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 Nxc6. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 9,061 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.86 (Stockfish, depth 63; best line 4. Nc3 a6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bc4 e6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp2pppp/2n5/8/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 Nxc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,377 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,681 | |
| 2000+ | 1,003 | |
| All | 9,061 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 | 3,541 (39%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 2,084 (23%) | |
| 4. Bb5 | 1,843 (20%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 309 (3%) | |
| 4. d3 | 302 (3%) | |
| 4. c3 | 249 (3%) | |
| 4. d4 | 243 (3%) | |
| 4. h3 | 103 (1%) |
Master games
389 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 7%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2688) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2687) 0-1 · Titled Arena Jan 2nd 2021 · 2021-01-02
- GM Bassem Amin (2690) – GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2620) 1/2-1/2 · Olympic Esports Final GpB · 2023-06-23
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2559) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2687) 1-0 · Titled Arena Jan 2nd 2021 · 2021-01-02
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Antosha_Chekhonte (2615) – GM JThybo (2635) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- SouthWind06 (2587) – Schmargendorf (2623) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Dmitry_Kornilovich (2514) – Schmargendorf (2616) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Boehnke Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Icelandic-Palme Gambit B01
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.