Zukertort Opening: Vos Gambit
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
296,467 games: White 51.7% / Draw 4.3% / Black 44.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 228,660229K | ||
| 14,24014K | ||
| 12,92413K | ||
| 10,04910K | ||
| 7,0497,049 | ||
| 4,9484,948 | ||
| Philidor Defense | 4,7664,766 | |
| 4,6794,679 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+1.68 White is clearly better
Even so, Black scores 46.2% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.
Best play: 3. dxe5 Nc6 4. Bg5 f6 5. exf6 Nxf6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. e3 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 (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 366K | |
| 1400–1799 | 207K | |
| 1800–2199 | 175K | |
| 2200 and up | 22K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2 |
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
Zukertort Opening: Vos Gambit (ECO A04, Flank Openings) is a gambit in the Zukertort Opening: Pirc Invitation, reached after 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 e5 (2 moves).
In 296,467 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.7%, Black 44.1% and 4.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. dxe5, in 77% of those games.
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: Vos Gambit is played more than twice as often as in 2016: 0.016% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.0074%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0074% | 2,661 |
| 2017 | 0.008% | 4,381 |
| 2018 | 0.0086% | 6,777 |
| 2019 | 0.0088% | 10,924 |
| 2020 | 0.0089% | 25,922 |
| 2021 | 0.0085% | 33,189 |
| 2022 | 0.01% | 38,233 |
| 2023 | 0.012% | 44,432 |
| 2024 | 0.014% | 50,630 |
| 2025 | 0.016% | 55,041 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.017% | 18,190 |
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
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Zukertort Opening: Vos Gambit (A04)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/zukertort-opening-vos-gambit