Source Lichess
White wins at least 6.8 more of every 100 games than it loses
how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident
At All Ratings, Ruy Lopez: Open, Karpov Gambit keeps White's wins running +6.8% ahead of its losses at worst, 90% confident, from 260 Lichess games. This gambit is effective. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played December 2023 to November 2025.
| Rating | Edge at worst | White Win | Draw | White Loss | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2199 | −7.0% | 53.5% | 4.5% | 41.9% | 76 |
| 2200-2499 | +4.1% | 55.5% | 8.3% | 36.2% | 113 |
At some ratings. White comes out ahead at 2200-2499; at the other ratings we can see, the games do not show it paying.
White wins 53.3% of Ruy Lopez: Open, Karpov Gambit games, draws 10.1% and loses 36.5%. That rests on 260 games from Lichess.
2200-2499. There White wins at least 4.1 more of every 100 games than it loses (90% confident), its highest Edge at worst.
Of Bullet, Blitz, Rapid and Classical, only Blitz has enough games to read by rating. The first rating where the games do not show White coming out ahead is 2000-2199 in Blitz.
The Ruy Lopez: Open, Karpov Gambit is sharp: 10.1% of its games are drawn, so 89.9% end with a winner.
At 2200-2499, where White comes out ahead. At the other ratings we can see, the games do not show it paying.
As Black, take the material, then develop fast, castle early, and trade pieces. Give the material back when doing so kills the attack. At 2200-2499, White 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 260 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.