Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Irish Gambit
C44

Irish Gambit

Open in Lichess
Share: X Reddit Telegram Facebook
Play from here → Click pieces to play, or use ← / → arrows.

Overview

Irish Gambit belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO C44, Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.

The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.

It is reached after 5 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5.

The line refines King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.

It continues primarily into one named line, King's Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit.

Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.

ECO code
C44
Group
Open Games (C)
Plies
5
Parent
King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation
Direct variations
1

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

82,819 games · White 40.3% / Draw 3.1% / Black 56.6%

MovesGamesW / D / B
Nxe579,867
Nf61,129
d6603
Bc5451
Qe7165
f5130
Nd4109
Qf684

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:13:10

Write a description

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

Variations (1)