Caissa Codex
C32

King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Alapin Variation

Chess diagram: King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Alapin Variation after 9. Nfd2

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

2,445 games: White 73.0% / Draw 2.8% / Black 24.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
1,2511,251
538538
452452
156156
88
88
77
66

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+4.96 White is clearly better

Best play: 9... O-O 10. Qxe4 Qd8 11. Bd3 g6 12. Qf3 Bh4 13. Nc3 Nc6 14. Nb3

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

Overview

King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Alapin Variation (ECO C32, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Charousek Gambit Accepted, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4 Nxe4 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Qe2 Bf2+ 8. Kd1 Qxd5+ 9. Nfd2 (9 moves).

In 2,445 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 73.0%, Black 24.2% and 2.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 9…f5, in 51% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

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

How to play against the King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Alapin Variation

The most played answer, 9…f5, also scores best for Black: 30.9%, with Black winning 29.0% and White 67.3% of 1,251 games. Of the main answers, 9…Bf5 scores lowest: 18.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 9…O-O.

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 5…Nxe4 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Qe2 Bf2+ 8. Kd1 Qxd5+ 9. Nfd2, the position after King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Charousek Gambit Accepted also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Alapin Variation (C32)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-declined-falkbeer-countergambit-alapin-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-gambit-declined-falkbeer-countergambit-alapin-variation