Danish Gambit: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Danish Gambit · 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 56.6% in 5,886 Danish Gambit games (±1.2; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 54.9% of them, Black won 41.7%, and 3.3% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 56.6% (±1.2) with the Danish Gambit in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (5,886 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

56.6%

White's score at Lichess rating 1500–1799 · 5,886 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

White scores 56.6% at 1500–1799 and 51.1% at 2100+.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3. 16,974 games in this sample reached it — 268 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 51.1% (2100+) to 56.6% (1500–1799).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 1200–1499 group (0.4% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 1800–2099 group (3.8%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Danish Gambit games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Danish Gambit — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12001,681 games

White wins 53.2% · draws 3.0% · Black wins 43.7% · White's score 54.8% ±2.3 · how common 0.2%
1200–14994,195 games

White wins 54.6% · draws 2.2% · Black wins 43.2% · White's score 55.7% ±1.5 · how common 0.4%
1500–17995,886 gamesIn the headline

White wins 54.9% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 41.7% · White's score 56.6% ±1.2 · how common 0.4%
1800–20994,151 games

White wins 52.6% · draws 3.8% · Black wins 43.7% · White's score 54.5% ±1.5 · how common 0.3%
2100+1,061 gamesCompared with

White wins 49.3% · draws 3.7% · Black wins 47.0% · White's score 51.1% ±3.0 · how common 0.2%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

See the replies most often played next at the Lichess level you choose, on one printable sheet: Prepare replies in Find Your Opening (the sheet needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Danish Gambit games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Danish Gambit — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	4,200	54.8%	1.9%	43.3%	55.8%
Blitz	9,644	53.5%	3.6%	42.9%	55.3%
Rapid	3,050	53.4%	3.4%	43.1%	55.2%
Classical	80	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3...dxc3 ·73.3% · 1,233 · 44.4% ±2.7 3...Nc6 ·15.2% · 256 · 49.2% ±6.0
1200–1499	3...dxc3 ·70.9% · 2,975 · 43.1% ±1.8 3...Nc6 ·14.3% · 601 · 46.3% ±3.9
1500–1799	3...dxc3 ·69.1% · 4,068 · 41.8% ±1.5 3...Nc6 ·13.0% · 765 · 44.2% ±3.5 3...d5 ·4.9% · 286 · 48.3% ±5.6
1800–2099	3...dxc3 ·62.7% · 2,602 · 44.1% ±1.9 3...d5 ·11.7% · 485 · 50.7% ±4.4 3...Nc6 ·10.6% · 439 · 46.2% ±4.6
2100+	3...dxc3 ·43.4% · 460 · 45.9% ±4.5 3...d5 ·24.2% · 257 · 55.8% ±5.9

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Center Game 1.e4 e5 2.d4
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 (King's Knight Opening)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Italian Game)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 (Bishop's Opening)

Download these numbers: Danish Gambit (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.