Source Lichess
Black wins at least 2.5 more of every 100 games than it loses
how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident
At All Ratings, Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit keeps Black's wins running +2.5% ahead of its losses at worst, 90% confident, from 3.2M Lichess games. This gambit is playable but marginal. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played December 2023 to November 2025.
| Rating | Edge at worst | Black Win | Draw | Black Loss | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | −2.2% | 47.7% | 2.8% | 49.5% | 172K |
| 1000-1199 | +5.8% | 51.6% | 2.8% | 45.5% | 439K |
| 1200-1399 | +5.0% | 51.0% | 3.1% | 45.8% | 727K |
| 1400-1599 | +2.4% | 49.6% | 3.5% | 47.0% | 821K |
| 1600-1799 | +0.5% | 48.4% | 3.9% | 47.7% | 655K |
| 1800-1999 | −0.9% | 47.5% | 4.4% | 48.1% | 340K |
| 2000-2199 | −0.3% | 47.7% | 4.9% | 47.5% | 77K |
| 2200-2499 | +1.8% | 49.3% | 4.6% | 46.1% | 13K |
| 2500+ | −21.1% | 39.6% | 4.5% | 55.9% | 1.1K |
At some ratings. Black comes out ahead at 1000-1799 and 2200-2499; at the other ratings we can see, the games do not show it paying.
Black wins 49.6% of Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit games, draws 3.5% and loses 46.9%. That rests on 3.2M games from Lichess.
1000-1199. There Black wins at least 5.8 more of every 100 games than it loses (90% confident), its highest Edge at worst.
Rapid. For Black, the Edge at worst — how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident — is +2.0% in Blitz (1.7M games) and +4.0% in Rapid (1.0M games).
No. The first rating where the games do not show Black coming out ahead is 0-999 in Bullet, 0-999 in Blitz, 0-999 in Rapid and 0-999 in Classical.
The Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit is extremely sharp: 3.5% of its games are drawn, so 96.5% end with a winner.
At 1000-1799 and 2200-2499, where Black comes out ahead. At the other ratings we can see, the games do not show it paying.
As White, take the material, then develop fast, castle early, and trade pieces. Give the material back when doing so kills the attack. At 1000-1799 and 2200-2499, Black still comes out ahead in these games; at the other ratings we can see, the games do not show the gambit paying.
This rests on 3.2M games from Lichess. Every figure carries the range it is in, 90% confident, and the table above shows how many games sit behind each rating and each clock — the fewer there are, the wider that range.