Tree path 6 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Gambit › King's Gambit Accepted › King's Knight's Gambit › King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense › King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Gambit C30
- King's Gambit Accepted C33
- King's Knight's Gambit C34
- King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense C36
- King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense C36 you are here
King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense
Overview
King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense is a gambit, classified under ECO code C36 within the Open Games family. As with all gambits, one side sacrifices material early — usually a pawn — in exchange for development, open lines, or initiative.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
Play reaches this position via 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5, after 7 plies of opening development.
It is a variation of King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
It continues primarily into one named line, King's Gambit Accepted: Abbazia Defense.
In total, the branch covers 2 sub-variations across all depths.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C36
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 7
- Direct variations
- 1
- Total in subtree
- 2
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
2,650,250 games · White 50.9% / Draw 4.2% / Black 44.9%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Qxd5 | 1,045,306 | |
| Nf6 | 941,107 | |
| Bg4 | 296,500 | |
| Bd6 | 143,314 | |
| Be7 | 91,567 | |
| c6 | 46,879 | |
| g5 | 46,562 | |
| Bc5 | 17,734 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:38:15
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