Best chess gambits for beginners

Gambits ranked by how well they score for the side that plays them (wins plus half the draws) in rated Lichess games between players rated under 1400. Among the lines reached in at least 50,000 such games; each gambit appears once, as its best-scoring line.

Under 1400, the gambit that scores best for White is Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Meitner-Mieses Gambit: 66.7% in 66K games; for Black it is Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit: 54.9% in 2.6M games. A high score here says that players at this level often go wrong against the gambit, not that it is sound: the last two columns give the score at 2200 and up and Stockfish's verdict.

Gambits for White

#	Gambit	Moves	Games	Under 1400	2200+	Stockfish
1	C25 Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Meitner-Mieses Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4…`	66K	66.7%	—	+0.67
2	C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6…`	78K	61.1%	—	+0.14
3	C23 Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. d4`	148K	61.1%	—	−0.16
4	C67 Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O…`	611K	60.7%	51.3%	+0.22
5	C36 King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5`	243K	59.8%	50.2%	−0.26
6	C29 Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4`	2.7M	59.6%	53.9%	−0.12
7	C21 Danish Gambit Accepted: Copenhagen Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4…`	192K	59.2%	52.8%	−0.27
8	D07 Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense, Modern Gambit	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. Nf3…`	511K	59.0%	54.3%	+0.56
9	C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Spielmann Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4…`	71K	58.9%	—	+0.48
10	C27 Bishop's Opening: Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nc3`	114K	58.7%	51.2%	−0.63
11	D21 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3`	1M	58.5%	52.1%	+0.27
12	C44 Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3…`	415K	58.3%	53.6%	−0.15
13	C51 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4…`	544K	57.8%	55.9%	+0.34
14	D10 Slav Defense: Slav Gambit, Alekhine Attack	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4`	348K	57.8%	51.5%	+0.14
15	D15 Slav Defense: Geller Gambit	`1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4…`	69K	57.6%	52.2%	−0.07
16	C65 Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Zukertort Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O…`	237K	57.4%	54.7%	+0.32
17	B01 Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Leonhardt Gambit	`1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4`	173K	56.3%	53.9%	−0.04
18	C50 Italian Game: Deutz Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O…`	182K	55.9%	56.2%	−0.31
19	D00 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Accepted: Euwe Defense	`1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3…`	94K	55.8%	57.6%	−0.27
20	A00 Grob Opening: Grob Gambit, Fritz Gambit	`1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4`	132K	55.8%	54.8%	−1.43

Gambits for Black

#	Gambit	Moves	Games	Under 1400	2200+	Stockfish
1	C42 Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6…`	2.6M	54.9%	48.9%	+2.01
2	B01 Scandinavian Defense: Icelandic-Palme Gambit	`1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 e6`	289K	54.8%	52.2%	+0.40
3	A40 Englund Gambit: Main Line	`1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7`	2.2M	53.9%	43.6%	+1.89
4	C50 Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4`	4M	52.9%	47.6%	+1.42
5	D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System, Steinitz Countergambit Accepted	`1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. dxc5`	167K	52.3%	—	0.00
6	C50 Italian Game: Rousseau Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f5`	1.2M	52.2%	49.6%	+1.49
7	C40 Elephant Gambit: Paulsen Countergambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4`	816K	51.9%	50.9%	+1.06
8	C20 King's Pawn Game: Wayward Queen Attack, Kiddie Countergambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nf6`	6.4M	51.8%	—	−0.03
9	C44 Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5`	109K	51.7%	—	+0.43
10	B01 Scandinavian Defense: Kloosterboer Gambit	`1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 e5`	112K	51.7%	49.2%	+2.37
11	A02 Bird Opening: From's Gambit	`1. f4 e5`	584K	51.6%	48.2%	+0.58
12	C63 Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense, Jaenisch Gambit Accepted	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. exf5`	111K	51.2%	55.4%	−0.38
13	C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5…`	601K	50.6%	—	+3.63
14	C50 Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 f5`	105K	50.4%	—	+1.36
15	A43 Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted	`1. d4 c5 2. dxc5`	2.3M	50.2%	49.8%	+0.14
16	D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Irish Gambit	`1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c5`	442K	50.1%	49.0%	+0.01
17	C20 King's Pawn Game: Clam Variation, King's Gambit Reversed	`1. e4 e5 2. d3 f5`	203K	50.0%	—	+0.95
18	C31 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Milner-Barry Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. Nc3`	51K	49.9%	—	−0.55
19	A57 Benko Gambit	`1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5`	53K	49.9%	48.9%	+0.65
20	B00 Nimzowitsch Defense: Colorado Countergambit	`1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 f5`	70K	49.7%	49.2%	+1.36

Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess, fetched for the 1,500 most-played lines and refreshed monthly. A line counts as a gambit when its name has "Gambit" or "Countergambit" in it, "… Gambit Declined" lines left out; it is scored for the side that offers the gambit. 2200+ is shown from 10,000 games. Stockfish 19 at depth 30, after the line's last move, in pawns from White's side.