Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Center Game › Center Game Accepted › Danish Gambit
C21

Danish Gambit

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Overview

Danish Gambit is a gambit, classified under ECO code C21 within the Open Games family. As with all gambits, one side sacrifices material early — usually a pawn — in exchange for development, open lines, or initiative.

The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.

It begins with 5 plies and takes 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 to reach the canonical position.

It is a variation of Center Game Accepted, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.

It branches into 3 notable variations — Danish Gambit Accepted, Danish Gambit Accepted: Svenonius Defense, Danish Gambit Declined: Sörensen Defense.

Together the deeper variations number 7 across the full subtree.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code
C21
Group
Open Games (C)
Plies
5
Parent
Center Game Accepted
Direct variations
3
Total in subtree
7

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. A more detailed, human-written description is on the way — and you can speed it up by suggesting one yourself.

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Variations (3)

Show all 7 sub-variations (full subtree)