Caissa Codex
E10

Blumenfeld Countergambit

Chess diagram: Blumenfeld Countergambit after 4…b5

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.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

118,420 games: White 48.7% / Draw 5.0% / Black 46.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
43,47243K
Duz-Khotimirsky Variation 17,25817K
15,66316K
10,69711K
10,58311K
5,5985,598
5,4945,494
3,3073,307

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 21, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.57 White is slightly better

Best play: 5. dxe6 fxe6 6. cxb5 a6 7. e3 d5 8. Nc3 c4 9. Be2 axb5

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

Overview

Blumenfeld Countergambit (ECO E10, Indian Defenses) is a gambit in the Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 (4 moves).

In 118,420 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.7%, Black 46.3% and 5.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. dxe6, in 37% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Blumenfeld Countergambit Accepted and Blumenfeld Countergambit: Duz-Khotimirsky Variation. In all, 3 named lines continue from it.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the Blumenfeld Countergambit

5. Bg5 (Duz-Khotimirsky Variation) scores best for White: 56.0%, with White winning 52.9% and Black 40.9% of 17K games. The most played, 5. dxe6, scores 51.1% in 43K games, and 5. b3 scores lowest: 45.5%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. dxe6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Variations (2)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3…c5 4. d5 b5, the position after Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian also goes on to:

Transpositions

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

All 3 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Blumenfeld Countergambit (E10)”. Lichess data as of 21 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/blumenfeld-countergambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/blumenfeld-countergambit