King's Pawn Game: Gunderam Gambit
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
681,547 games: White 53.7% / Draw 3.9% / Black 42.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 232,677233K | ||
| 185,103185K | ||
| 115,099115K | ||
| 67,79968K | ||
| 34,52035K | ||
| 14,36414K | ||
| 9,5889,588 | ||
| 6,1336,133 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+1.59 White is clearly better
Best play: 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Qb6 5. Bf4 Qxd4 6. Nxd4 d6 7. Nc3 g6
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 42% under 1400, 43% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 882K | |
| 1800–2199 | 289K | |
| 2200 and up | 8,062 | |
| Masters, over the board | 8 |
Master games
- Golubovic, B. – Basagic, Z.
- Ivanov, V. L. – Bondarenko, V.
- Jurkovic, H. – Basagic, Z.
- Hladecek, M. – Ledezma Álvarez, J. M.
- Galanov, B. – Bondarenko, V.
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
Overview
King's Pawn Game: Gunderam Gambit (ECO C40, Open Games) is a gambit in the King's Knight Opening, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 c6 (2 moves).
In 681,547 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 53.7%, Black 42.4% and 3.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Bc4, in 34% 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
How to play against the King's Pawn Game: Gunderam Gambit
3. Nxe5 scores best for White: 58.9%, with White winning 57.1% and Black 39.2% of 115K games. The most played answer, 3. Bc4, scores lowest: 53.1% in 233K games. Stockfish's first choice is 3. d4.
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: Gunderam Gambit has stayed between 0.024% and 0.028% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.027% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.024% | 8,650 |
| 2017 | 0.024% | 13,122 |
| 2018 | 0.024% | 18,919 |
| 2019 | 0.025% | 31,086 |
| 2020 | 0.025% | 72,803 |
| 2021 | 0.028% | 107,935 |
| 2022 | 0.028% | 106,936 |
| 2023 | 0.026% | 97,816 |
| 2024 | 0.026% | 93,008 |
| 2025 | 0.027% | 92,357 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.027% | 29,333 |
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
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “King's Pawn Game: Gunderam Gambit (C40)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/kings-pawn-game-gunderam-gambit