Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit
The Portuguese Gambit, or Portuguese Variation, is 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4, a sharp line of the Modern Scandinavian. Read the guide
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
1,236,153 games: White 44.0% / Draw 5.1% / Black 50.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Wuss Variation | 515,488515K | |
| 350,414350K | ||
| Classical Variation | 253,656254K | |
| 51,46151K | ||
| 22,82723K | ||
| 20,59621K | ||
| 7,6627,662 | ||
| 7,3777,377 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 20, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.73 White is better
Best play: 4. f3 Bd7 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 cxd5 7. cxd5 e6 8. dxe6 Bxe6
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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 49% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 20K | |
| 1400–1799 | 232K | |
| 1800–2199 | 847K | |
| 2200 and up | 211K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,126 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Short, N. D.
- Leko, P. – Kasimdzhanov, R.
- Vaibhav, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Svidler, P. – Shirov, A.
- Andriasian, Z. – Adhiban, B.
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
Description
The Portuguese Gambit, or Portuguese Variation, is 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4, a sharp line of the Modern Scandinavian. Instead of recapturing the pawn on d5 at once, Black delays it and concentrates on rapid development. It is an important and recently popular alternative to 3...Nxd5.
The main line
The normal continuation is 4.f3 Bf5 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.c4. The resulting sharp play is often similar to that of the Icelandic Gambit, 3.c4 e6.
Black's other third moves
3.d4 is the main line against 2...Nf6. GM John Emms called it the common choice for White, and its idea is to let Black regain the pawn while White develops quickly. The obvious reply is 3...Nxd5, after which White can chase the knight with 4.c4 or play 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.c4. 3...Qxd5 is occasionally seen; it can transpose to the classical 2...Qxd5 lines of the Scandinavian when White attacks the queen with Nc3, but White can avoid this with 4.Nf3 or 4.c4.
The numbers
On Lichess Black wins 50.9% of the 1.2 million games and White 44.0%. Under 1400 White is slightly ahead, 49.1% against 47.8%, but Black leads in every higher band. In 1,126 master games over the board White won 42.0%, Black 26.1%, and 31.9% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit
The most played answer, 4. Be2 (Wuss Variation), also scores best for White: 48.6%, with White winning 45.5% and Black 48.4% of 515K games. Of the main answers, 4. f3 scores lowest: 44.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 4. f3.
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 Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit has gained ground since 2016: 0.053% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.036%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.036% | 12,684 |
| 2017 | 0.049% | 26,734 |
| 2018 | 0.055% | 42,927 |
| 2019 | 0.044% | 55,508 |
| 2020 | 0.042% | 122,807 |
| 2021 | 0.041% | 159,916 |
| 2022 | 0.049% | 182,614 |
| 2023 | 0.049% | 184,684 |
| 2024 | 0.05% | 179,526 |
| 2025 | 0.053% | 185,053 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.058% | 63,195 |
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 (8)
- B01 Banker Variation 4. f3 Bf5 5. c4
- B01 Classical Variation 4. Nf3
- B01 Correspondence Refutation 4. f3 Bf5 5. g4
- B01 Elbow Variation 4. Bb5+ c6
- B01 Jadoul Variation 4. f3 Bf5 5. Bb5+ Nbd7 6. c4
- B01 Lusophobe Variation 4. Bb5+ Nbd7 5. Be2
- B01 Melbourne Shuffle Variation 4. f3 Bf5 5. Bb5+ Nbd7 6. Nc3
- B01 Wuss Variation 4. Be2
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Scandinavian Defense, version of 1 November 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit (B01)”. Lichess data as of 20 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/scandinavian-defense-portuguese-gambit