Caissa Codex
C40

Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack

Chess diagram: Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack after 3. Bc4

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

247,100 games: White 50.2% / Draw 2.9% / Black 47.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Morgado Defense 86,72787K
79,75780K
Italian Game: Rousseau Gambit 34,83835K
Philidor Defense: Lopez Countergambit 27,47927K
4,2754,275
4,0354,035
2,8182,818
2,2072,207

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.32 White is slightly better

Best play: 3... fxe4 4. Nxe5 d5 5. Qh5+ g6 6. Nxg6 hxg6 7. Qxg6+ Kd7 8. Bxd5

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 worse this line does for White: White scores 56% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 115K
1400–1799 197K
1800–2199 134K
2200 and up 5,965
Masters, over the board 9

Master games

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

Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack (ECO C40, Open Games) is a gambit in the Latvian Gambit, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Bc4 (3 moves).

In 247,100 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.2%, Black 47.0% and 2.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Nf6, in 35% of those games.

It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Morgado Defense and Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack, Polerio-Svedenborg Variation.

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How to play against the Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack

3…fxe4 scores best for Black: 54.0%, with Black winning 52.5% and White 44.5% of 80K games. The most played answer, 3…Nf6, scores lowest: 45.0% in 87K games. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…fxe4.

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

Popularity by year

The Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack has stayed between 0.009% and 0.01% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.0093% in 2025).

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.0092%3,285
20170.0099%5,473
20180.0093%7,334
20190.01%12,440
20200.01%29,618
20210.01%39,826
20220.0093%34,781
20230.009%33,959
20240.0093%33,353
20250.0093%32,131
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.0097%10,662

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 (6)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3. Bc4, the position after Latvian Gambit also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Latvian Gambit: Mayet Attack (C40)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/latvian-gambit-mayet-attack

https://chesscodex.org/openings/latvian-gambit-mayet-attack