D21

Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

354,657 games: White 52.4% / Draw 5.8% / Black 41.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	132,456132K
	94,15394K
	40,01740K
	31,13731K
	29,66930K
	13,58914K
	7,3507,350
	2,4562,456

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

Engine evaluation

+0.37 White is slightly better

Best play: 4. d5 e6 5. e4 exd5 6. exd5 Bd6 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Bxc4 O-O

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 44% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	75K
1400–1799	170K
1800–2199	200K
2200 and up	58K
Masters, over the board	1,286

Master games

Gukesh, D. – Praggnanandhaa, R. ½–½, 2025
Vallejo Pons, F. – Aronian, L. ½–½, 2011
Grischuk, A. – Ivanchuk, V. 0–1, 2007
Anand, V. – Ivanchuk, V. ½–½, 2000
Xiong, J. – Aronian, L. 1–0, 2022

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

Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense (ECO D21, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a gambit in the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c5 (3 moves).

In 354,657 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.4%, Black 41.7% and 5.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. e3, in 37% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense

4. d5 scores best for White: 58.2%, with White winning 55.7% and Black 39.2% of 94K games. The most played, 4. e3, scores 57.0% in 132K games, and 4. Qa4+ scores lowest: 47.9%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. d5.

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 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense has stayed between 0.013% and 0.016% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.014% in 2025).

0.015%0.014%0.016%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.015%	5,288
2017	0.015%	7,988
2018	0.016%	12,233
2019	0.015%	18,447
2020	0.014%	41,405
2021	0.013%	52,209
2022	0.014%	51,170
2023	0.013%	50,387
2024	0.013%	46,864
2025	0.014%	47,184
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.014%	15,021

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. “Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense (D21)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-accepted-gunsberg-defense