Caissa Codex
C37

King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Paulsen Defense

Chess diagram: King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Paulsen Defense after 11. Rae1

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Statistics from Lichess

1,124 games: White 45.1% / Draw 2.8% / Black 52.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
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Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Sep 26, 2026

Engine evaluation

−3.42 Black is clearly better

Even so, White scores 46.5% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.

Best play: 11... Qd4+ 12. Kh1 O-O 13. Ne2 Qf6 14. Nxf4 Bxf4 15. Bxf4 Qg6 16. b4

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

Overview

King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Paulsen Defense (ECO C37, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Sarratt Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. O-O gxf3 6. Qxf3 Qf6 7. e5 Qxe5 8. d3 Bh6 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. Bd2 Nbc6 11. Rae1 (11 moves).

In 1,124 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.1%, Black 52.1% and 2.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 11…Qd4+, in 32% of those games.

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How to answer 11. Rae1

11…Qf5 scores best for Black: 64.5%, with Black winning 62.8% and White 33.9% of 339 games. The most played, 11…Qd4+, scores 62.3% in 363 games, and 11…Qc5+ scores lowest: 41.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 11…Qd4+.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7. e5 Qxe5 8. d3 Bh6 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. Bd2 Nbc6 11. Rae1, the position after King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Sarratt Defense also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Paulsen Defense (C37)”. Lichess data as of 26 Sep 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-accepted-double-muzio-gambit-paulsen-defense

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-accepted-double-muzio-gambit-paulsen-defense