Ware Opening: Cologne Gambit

1. a4 b6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nd7

The Ware Opening: Cologne Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. a4 b6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nd7. It is a line of the Ware Opening. White is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.82 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4. Nxd5 Bb7 5. Ne3 e6 6. Nc4 Ngf6)

ECO

A00

Moves

6 plies

FEN

r1bqkbnr/p1pnpppp/1p6/3p4/P2P4/2N5/1PP1PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 4

PGN

1. a4 b6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nd7

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

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.