Sicilian Defense: Portsmouth Gambit
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b4
The Sicilian Defense: Portsmouth Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B30, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b4. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,298 times by this move order. White won 53%, 3% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3… cxb4 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.33 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… cxb4 4. d4 e6 5. a3 d5 6. e5)
- ECO
- B30
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2n5/2p5/1P2P3/5N2/P1PP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 85 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,238 | |
| 2000+ | 975 | |
| All | 2,298 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… cxb4 | 1,041 (45%) | |
| 3… Nxb4 | 774 (34%) | |
| 3… b6 | 154 (7%) | |
| 3… e6 | 118 (5%) | |
| 3… e5 | 82 (4%) | |
| 3… d6 | 60 (3%) | |
| 3… g6 | 18 (1%) | |
| 3… d5 | 17 (1%) |
Master games
879 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 10%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Kirill Shevchenko (2675) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess Q2Sw · 2023-08-23
- GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2657) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Mar Late · 2025-03-18
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Aram Hakobyan (2616) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 26th Sep Late · 2023-09-26
- GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2657) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2783) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Mar Late · 2025-03-11
- GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2662) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2732) 0-1 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2024-05-08
Search all games of the Sicilian Defense: Portsmouth Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- derdimcokanacan (2667) – Lmkt (2674) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- MathsChessForever (2571) – papugosh (2628) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- El_Precisione (2608) – FastCavalier (2586) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6
More Sicilian Defense lines (all)
- Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) B20
- Sicilian Defense: Amazon Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Big Clamp Formation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Brick Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack, Queen Fianchetto Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Euwe Attack, Prins Gambit B20
- Sicilian Defense: Gloria Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Grob Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Keres Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening B20
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.