Irish Gambit
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Statistics from Lichess
82,819 games: White 40.3% / Draw 3.1% / Black 56.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 79,86780K | ||
| Petrov's Defense: Stafford Gambit | 1,1291,129 | |
| 603603 | ||
| King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit, Chiodini Gambit | 451451 | |
| 165165 | ||
| Latvian Gambit: Fraser Defense | 130130 | |
| 109109 | ||
| 8484 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 22, 2026
Engine evaluation
−4.43 Black is clearly better
Best play: 3... Nxe5 4. d4 Ng6 5. Bd3 d5 6. exd5 Nf6 7. c4 c6 8. O-O
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
Overview
Irish Gambit (ECO C44, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 (3 moves).
In 82,819 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 40.3%, Black 56.6% and 3.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Nxe5, in 96% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit.
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Variations (1)
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Irish Gambit (C44)”. Lichess data as of 22 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/irish-gambit