Caissa Codex
A03

Bird Opening: Williams Gambit

Chess diagram: Bird Opening: Williams Gambit after 2. e4

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

610,849 games: White 45.1% / Draw 3.6% / Black 51.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
531,339531K
20,31120K
12,92513K
10,60611K
9,0559,055
8,4608,460
King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit 7,9557,955
5,1495,149

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 26, 2026

Engine evaluation

−1.95 Black is clearly better

Even so, White scores 46.9% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.

Best play: 2... dxe4 3. d3 Nf6 4. Qd2 exd3 5. Bxd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Na3

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 44% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 418K
1400–1799 609K
1800–2199 272K
2200 and up 4,884
Masters, over the board 1

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Bird Opening: Williams Gambit (ECO A03, Flank Openings) is a gambit in the Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, reached after 1. f4 d5 2. e4 (2 moves).

In 610,849 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.1%, Black 51.3% and 3.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…dxe4, in 87% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Bird Opening: Williams-Zilbermints Gambit.

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Popularity by year

The Bird Opening: Williams Gambit has gained ground since 2016: 0.026% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.014%.

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.014%5,039
20170.014%7,706
20180.015%11,491
20190.017%21,710
20200.021%60,114
20210.024%92,396
20220.026%98,179
20230.025%95,626
20240.026%94,220
20250.026%88,829
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.025%27,064

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 2. e4, the position after Bird Opening: Dutch Variation also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Bird Opening: Williams Gambit (A03)”. Lichess data as of 26 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/bird-opening-williams-gambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/bird-opening-williams-gambit