Caissa Codex
C40

Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit

Chess diagram: Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit after 3. g4

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.

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Statistics from Lichess

156 games: White 40.4% / Draw 1.3% / Black 58.3%

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Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
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Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

−3.80 Black is clearly better

Best play: 3... fxe4 4. Nxe5 Qe7 5. Nc4 d5 6. Ne3 d4 7. Nf5 Bxf5 8. gxf5

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

Overview

Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit (ECO C40, Open Games) is a gambit in the Latvian Gambit, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. g4 (3 moves).

In 156 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 40.4%, Black 58.3% and 1.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…fxe4, in 74% of those games.

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Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3. g4, the position after Latvian Gambit also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Latvian Gambit: Lobster Gambit (C40)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/latvian-gambit-lobster-gambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/latvian-gambit-lobster-gambit