King's Gambit Accepted: Schallopp Defense
The Schallopp Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6, a reply to the King's Knight's Gambit. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
1,583,497 games: White 53.6% / Draw 3.6% / Black 42.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 641,730642K | ||
| 547,803548K | ||
| 242,559243K | ||
| 85,17385K | ||
| 55,81556K | ||
| 2,7192,719 | ||
| 2,1942,194 | ||
| 1,3731,373 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 21, 2026
Engine evaluation
−0.41 Black is slightly better
Best play: 4. Nc3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Qe2+ Be6 8. Nxd5 Qxd5
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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 43% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.7M | |
| 1800–2199 | 709K | |
| 2200 and up | 53K | |
| Masters, over the board | 205 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Ding, L.
- Pechac, J. – Tabatabaei, M.
- Gareev, T. – Fressinet, L.
- Gashimov, V. – Graf, A.
- Balog, I. – Svane, R.
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 27, 2026
Description
The Schallopp Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6, a reply to the King's Knight's Gambit. Black usually intends to defend the extra pawn on f4 with ...Nh5. It is not Black's most popular option, but it has received more interest in the 21st century, particularly in 2020, when Ding Liren used it to beat Magnus Carlsen in the online Magnus Carlsen Invitational.
4.e5 Nh5
The most common continuation is 4.e5 Nh5, often followed by 5.d4. The knight on h5 is undefended, so Black must be careful: for example 5.d4 d6 6.Qe2 Be7? 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Qb5+ wins it. The correct move is 6...d5, with equality.
4.Nc3
Also common is 4.Nc3, which defends e4 and lets Black's knight stay on f6. Black most often answers 4...d5, and White usually continues 5.e5, met by 5...Nh5 or 5...Ne4, or 5.exd5, which transposes to the Abbazia Defense.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 53.6% of the 1.6 million games and Black 42.8%. The result turns with rating: White wins 57.1% between 1400 and 1799, but from 2200 up Black is ahead, 49.9% against 44.6%. In 205 master games over the board 42.4% were drawn, Black won 32.2% and White 25.4%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the King's Gambit Accepted: Schallopp Defense
4. Nc3 scores best for White: 56.5%, with White winning 54.6% and Black 41.6% of 548K games. The most played, 4. e5, scores 55.7% in 642K games, and 4. Bc4 scores lowest: 53.5%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. Nc3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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
The King's Gambit Accepted: Schallopp Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.049% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.082%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.082% | 29,290 |
| 2017 | 0.067% | 37,118 |
| 2018 | 0.059% | 46,457 |
| 2019 | 0.059% | 74,220 |
| 2020 | 0.071% | 207,949 |
| 2021 | 0.07% | 272,006 |
| 2022 | 0.067% | 252,271 |
| 2023 | 0.06% | 224,261 |
| 2024 | 0.053% | 190,154 |
| 2025 | 0.049% | 169,838 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.048% | 52,992 |
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 (1)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article King's Gambit, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Gambit Accepted: Schallopp Defense (C34)”. Lichess data as of 21 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-accepted-schallopp-defense