Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Center Game › Center Game Accepted › Danish Gambit
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- Center Game C20
- Center Game Accepted C21
- Danish Gambit C21 you are here
Danish Gambit
Overview
Danish Gambit is a gambit, classified under ECO code C21 within the Open Games family. As with all gambits, one side sacrifices material early — usually a pawn — in exchange for development, open lines, or initiative.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It begins with 5 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 to reach the canonical position.
It is a variation of Center Game Accepted, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
It branches into 3 notable variations — Danish Gambit Accepted, Danish Gambit Accepted: Svenonius Defense, Danish Gambit Declined: Sörensen Defense.
Together the deeper variations number 7 across the full subtree.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C21
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 5
- Parent
- Center Game Accepted
- Direct variations
- 3
- Total in subtree
- 7
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
10,967,458 games · White 54.3% / Draw 3.7% / Black 42.0%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| dxc3 | 7,531,748 | |
| Nc6 | 957,941 | |
| d5 | 924,095 | |
| d3 | 395,148 | |
| d6 | 378,328 | |
| Nf6 | 263,040 | |
| Qe7 | 162,387 | |
| c5 | 148,071 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:10:23
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