Van Geet Opening: Dougherty Gambit
1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3
The Van Geet Opening: Dougherty Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3. It is a line of the Van Geet Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 28 times by this move order. White won 39%, 4% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 3… exf3 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.60 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 3… exf3 4. Nxf3 Bf5 5. d4 e6 6. Bd3)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/4p3/2N2P2/PPPP2PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 17 | |
| All | 28 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… exf3 | 19 (68%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 4 (14%) | |
| 3… e5 | 3 (11%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 1 (4%) | |
| 3… e3 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 33%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Matthieu Cornette (2533) – CM Sasha-Matei Craciun (2257) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Dec Early · 2024-12-10
- CM Junior Tay (2230) – GM Valentina Gunina (2471) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Feb Early · 2022-02-22
- CM Junior Tay (2230) – FM Dmitry Kirillov (2249) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Feb Early · 2022-02-15
- Jyrki Kiltti (2199) – FM Ivan Kubatko (2257) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 6th July · 2021-07-06
- CM Junior Tay (2230) – Mike Sailer (2109) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 22nd Feb Early · 2022-02-22
Search all games of the Van Geet Opening: Dougherty Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Amrdarweesh (2298) – Michael_Burns (2247) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Zwittel1004 (2250) – joaquindlr (2271) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- buhamad111 (2267) – yasinghafari (2243) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Van Geet Opening 1. Nc3
More Van Geet Opening lines (all)
- Van Geet Opening: Battambang Variation A00
- Van Geet Opening: Billockus-Johansen Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Damhaug Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Dunst-Perrenet Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Düsseldorf Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Gladbacher Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hector Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hergert Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hulsemann Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Jendrossek Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Kluever Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Laroche Gambit A00
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.