King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit 3…g5 4. Bc4
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
2,491,248 games: White 48.8% / Draw 3.0% / Black 48.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 842,972843K | ||
| 544,962545K | ||
| King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation | 511,815512K | |
| King's Gambit Accepted: Blachly Gambit | 158,601159K | |
| 120,012120K | ||
| 44,99345K | ||
| 44,38944K | ||
| 42,58843K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
−1.22 Black is better
Best play: 4... g4 5. O-O gxf3 6. Qxf3 Qf6 7. d3 Nc6 8. Bxf4 d6 9. Nc3
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 57% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 182K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.3M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 52K | |
| Masters, over the board | 149 |
Master games
- Nakamura, H. – Ivanchuk, V.
- Nakamura, H. – Andreikin, D.
- Zvjaginsev, V. – Akopian, V.
- Savchenko, B. – Inarkiev, E.
- Al Modiahki, M. – Kazhgaleyev, M.
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 26, 2026
Overview
King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit (ECO C37, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 (4 moves).
In 2,491,248 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.8%, Black 48.2% and 3.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…g4, in 34% of those games.
It branches into 8 named variations; the most played are King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation and King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Wild Muzio Gambit. In all, 31 named lines continue from it.
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. Bc4
4…Bg7 (King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation) scores best for Black: 55.7%, with Black winning 53.9% and White 42.6% of 512K games. The most played answer, 4…g4, scores lowest: 48.8% in 843K games. Stockfish's first choice is 4…g4.
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 has lost ground since 2016: 0.088% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.12%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.12% | 44,137 |
| 2017 | 0.13% | 73,462 |
| 2018 | 0.12% | 94,622 |
| 2019 | 0.11% | 138,598 |
| 2020 | 0.092% | 270,386 |
| 2021 | 0.092% | 360,211 |
| 2022 | 0.098% | 369,361 |
| 2023 | 0.095% | 358,641 |
| 2024 | 0.093% | 332,952 |
| 2025 | 0.088% | 304,165 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.087% | 95,031 |
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 (8)
- C37 Australian Gambit 4…g4 5. h4
- C37 Ghulam-Kassim Gambit 4…g4 5. d4
- C37 Lolli Gambit 4…g4 5. Bxf7+
- C37 McDonnell Gambit 4…g4 5. Nc3
- C37 Middleton Countergambit 4…d6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. hxg4 hxg4
- C37 Muzio Gambit, Wild Muzio Gambit 4…g4 5. O-O
- C37 Salvio Gambit 4…g4 5. Ne5
- C38 Traditional Variation 4…Bg7
Transpositions
All 31 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Australian Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Ghulam-Kassim Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Lolli Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: McDonnell Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Middleton Countergambit 7 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Wild Muzio Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Salvio Gambit 5 moves
- C38 King's Gambit Accepted: Traditional Variation 4 moves
- C37 Ghulam-Kassim Gambit 6 moves
- C38 King's Gambit Accepted: Hanstein Gambit 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Kotov Gambit 6 moves
- C37 Young Variation 10 moves
- C38 King's Gambit Accepted: Mayet Gambit 6 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit Accepted, From's Defense 6 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Brentano Defense 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Holloway Defense 6 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Kling and Horwitz Counterattack 5 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Muzio Gambit, Sarratt Defense 6 moves
- C38 King's Gambit Accepted: Philidor Gambit 5 moves
- C37 Cochrane Gambit 6 moves
- C37 Santa Maria Defense 6 moves
- C37 Silberschmidt Defense 6 moves
- C37 Viennese Variation 6 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit 8 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Bello Gambit 7 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Paulsen Defense 11 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Young Gambit 10 moves
- C38 King's Gambit Accepted: Greco Gambit 10 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Salvio Gambit, Anderssen Counterattack 7 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Silberschmidt Gambit 7 moves
- C37 King's Gambit Accepted: Double Muzio Gambit, Baldwin Gambit 9 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit (C37)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-accepted-kings-knights-gambit-3