Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit 3…Nf6 4. Bg5
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
391,899 games: White 54.2% / Draw 5.8% / Black 40.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 94,58895K | ||
| 86,32686K | ||
| 79,64880K | ||
| 76,73277K | ||
| Chigorin Variation | 32,78833K | |
| 6,5456,545 | ||
| Nimzowitsch Variation | 6,1526,152 | |
| 5,0025,002 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026
Engine evaluation
0.00 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... g6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. Qd2 Na5 7. Be2 d5 8. f3 Nc6 9. O-O-O
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 worse this line does for White: White scores 56% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 51% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 8,523 | |
| 1400–1799 | 54K | |
| 1800–2199 | 257K | |
| 2200 and up | 94K | |
| Masters, over the board | 769 |
Master games
- Del Rio de Angelis, S. – Vallejo Pons, F.
- Wiacek, K. – Timmerman, G. J.
- Dobrov, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Ernst, S. – Jones, G. C.
- Erdos, V. – Nikolic, P.
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
Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit (ECO A83, Flank Openings) is a gambit in the Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit Accepted, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 (4 moves).
In 391,899 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 54.2%, Black 40.0% and 5.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…d5, in 24% of those games.
It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit, Chigorin Variation and Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit, Lasker Variation.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to answer 4. Bg5
4…Nc6 scores best for Black: 51.6%, with Black winning 48.5% and White 45.3% of 77K games. The most played answer, 4…d5, scores lowest: 29.2% in 95K games. Stockfish's first choice is 4…g6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.018% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.016% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.016% | 5,733 |
| 2017 | 0.018% | 9,782 |
| 2018 | 0.018% | 14,147 |
| 2019 | 0.017% | 21,558 |
| 2020 | 0.018% | 51,464 |
| 2021 | 0.014% | 54,553 |
| 2022 | 0.014% | 52,355 |
| 2023 | 0.014% | 51,636 |
| 2024 | 0.014% | 51,335 |
| 2025 | 0.016% | 54,027 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.016% | 17,993 |
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 (4)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit (A83)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/dutch-defense-staunton-gambit-2