Zukertort Opening: Tennison Gambit
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
9,342,004 games: White 48.6% / Draw 4.1% / Black 47.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 8,022,7188M | ||
| 357,369357K | ||
| 221,670222K | ||
| 209,647210K | ||
| 175,186175K | ||
| 168,152168K | ||
| 81,73382K | ||
| 37,42937K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
−1.27 Black is better
Best play: 2... dxe4 3. Ng5 Bf5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e6 6. Qe2 Qd4 7. f3
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 48% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 7.2M | |
| 1400–1799 | 8.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 4.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 210K | |
| Masters, over the board | 23 |
Master games
- Akbaev, K. – Potkin, V.
- Akbaev, K. – Skatchkov, P.
- Czebe, A. – Medvegy, Z.
- Abarca Gonzalez, N. – Garcia Palermo, C.
- Jovanovic, Z. – Milanovic, D.
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 26, 2026
Overview
Zukertort Opening: Tennison Gambit (ECO A06, Flank Openings) is a gambit that starts 1. e4 d5 2. Nf3.
In 9,342,004 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.6%, Black 47.3% and 4.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…dxe4, in 86% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, Zukertort Opening: Tennison Gambit, Brigg's Trap.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
Popularity by year
The Zukertort Opening: Tennison Gambit is played more than twice as often as in 2016: 0.38% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.19%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.19% | 67,418 |
| 2017 | 0.22% | 121,360 |
| 2018 | 0.25% | 198,424 |
| 2019 | 0.31% | 385,920 |
| 2020 | 0.33% | 980,972 |
| 2021 | 0.36% | 1,407,827 |
| 2022 | 0.38% | 1,433,547 |
| 2023 | 0.39% | 1,481,263 |
| 2024 | 0.39% | 1,411,566 |
| 2025 | 0.38% | 1,327,738 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.37% | 400,791 |
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 (1)
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Zukertort Opening: Tennison Gambit (A06)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/zukertort-opening-tennison-gambit