King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit
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Statistics from Lichess
6,974,280 games: White 52.7% / Draw 3.7% / Black 43.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 3,347,5373.3M | ||
| 1,031,3111M | ||
| 856,498856K | ||
| 683,817684K | ||
| 679,633680K | ||
| 121,130121K | ||
| 62,07962K | ||
| 59,98860K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 23, 2026
Engine evaluation
+2.26 White is clearly better
Even so, Black scores 45.5% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.
Best play: 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. c3 Nf6 7. d4 Bd6
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 45% under 1400, 44% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 12.1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 10.2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.4M | |
| 2200 and up | 29K | |
| Masters, over the board | 5 |
Master games
- Arsovic, G. – Moreno Ruiz, J.
- Sengupta, D. – Navalgund, N.
- Mihalichenko, V. – Tikhiy, S.
- Akram, F. – Cronjé, H.
- Necula, I. – Raffaele, E.
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 Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit (ECO C40, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Knight Opening, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bc5 (2 moves).
In 6,974,280 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.7%, Black 43.6% and 3.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Bc4, in 48% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit, Chiodini Gambit.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit
3. Nxe5 scores best for White: 58.5%, with White winning 56.8% and Black 39.7% of 1M games. The most played, 3. Bc4, scores 53.7% in 3.3M games, and 3. Nc3 scores lowest: 53.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3. Nxe5.
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 Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit peaked in 2021 at 0.3% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.26% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.25% | 89,582 |
| 2017 | 0.22% | 119,035 |
| 2018 | 0.19% | 151,862 |
| 2019 | 0.23% | 288,230 |
| 2020 | 0.27% | 785,985 |
| 2021 | 0.3% | 1,179,497 |
| 2022 | 0.29% | 1,097,082 |
| 2023 | 0.28% | 1,040,769 |
| 2024 | 0.27% | 972,985 |
| 2025 | 0.26% | 891,918 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.24% | 265,147 |
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)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Pawn Game: Busch-Gass Gambit (C40)”. Lichess data as of 23 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-pawn-game-busch-gass-gambit