Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
209,750 games: White 54.5% / Draw 4.5% / Black 41.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit | 106,672107K | |
| 75,06975K | ||
| 23,73624K | ||
| 1,1301,130 | ||
| 613613 | ||
| 569569 | ||
| 457457 | ||
| 450450 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.20 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... Nb8 5. Nxe4 c6 6. Bc4 cxd5 7. Qxd5 Qxd5 8. Bxd5 e6 9. Bc4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 54% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 69K | |
| 1400–1799 | 127K | |
| 1800–2199 | 116K | |
| 2200 and up | 22K | |
| Masters, over the board | 183 |
Master games
- Jobava, B. – Oleksienko, M.
- Heimann, A. – Jovanovic, Z. C.
- Peng, L. M. – Li, D.
- Christiansen, L. – Root, D.
- Espinosa Aranda, A. – Ibarra Jerez, J.
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
Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit (ECO B00, Semi-Open Games) is a gambit in the Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, reached after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. d5 (4 moves).
In 209,750 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 54.5%, Black 41.0% and 4.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…Ne5, in 51% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Nimzowitsch Gambit and Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Bogoljubow Variation, Richter Gambit.
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 Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit
4…Nb8 scores best for Black: 45.7%, with Black winning 42.7% and White 51.3% of 24K games. The most played, 4…Ne5, scores 44.7% in 107K games, and 4…Nb4 scores lowest: 41.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4…Nb8.
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 Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit dipped to 0.0069% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.0096% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0088% | 3,149 |
| 2017 | 0.0092% | 5,079 |
| 2018 | 0.0082% | 6,417 |
| 2019 | 0.0078% | 9,773 |
| 2020 | 0.0072% | 21,229 |
| 2021 | 0.0069% | 27,023 |
| 2022 | 0.0071% | 26,681 |
| 2023 | 0.008% | 30,203 |
| 2024 | 0.0091% | 32,578 |
| 2025 | 0.0096% | 33,265 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0094% | 10,305 |
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 (2)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit (B00)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/van-geet-opening-berlin-gambit