2.3K games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 49.4% expected score for White (we're 90% confident it's between 47.7% and 51.2%), based on 2.3K Lichess games.
Deep-dive datasets for this opening
Improves with rating: 39% → 42%
Best in Blitz (48%), worst in Classical (37%)
Click any cell to filter. Green = above 50%, Red = below 50%.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | — | — | |||
| 1000-1199 | — | — | |||
| 1200-1399 | — | ||||
| 1400-1599 | — | ||||
| 1600-1799 | — | ||||
| 1800-1999 | — | ||||
| 2000-2199 | — | — | |||
| 2200-2499 | — | — | |||
| 2500+ | — | — |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 47.9% (90% CI: 46.2%-49.7%) win rate for white, based on 2.3K rated games from Lichess.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line performs best at 1400-1599 Elo with a 52.5% win rate for white (346 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Blitz (48.4%) outperforms Rapid (46.6%) by 1.8%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a sharpness score of 97.0 (very decisive), meaning 97.0% of games end decisively. Average game length is 30 moves.
At 1000-1199 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 49.0% (90% CI: 41.5%-56.5%) win rate for white, based on 118 Lichess games. Average game length is 28 moves with a 3.8% draw rate.
At 1200-1399 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 45.9% (90% CI: 40.7%-51.1%) win rate for white, based on 248 Lichess games. Average game length is 28 moves with a 3.4% draw rate.
At 1400-1599 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 52.5% (90% CI: 48.1%-56.9%) win rate for white, based on 346 Lichess games. Average game length is 27 moves with a 1.6% draw rate.
At 1600-1799 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 48.1% (90% CI: 43.9%-52.3%) win rate for white, based on 376 Lichess games. Average game length is 29 moves with a 1.5% draw rate.
At 1800-1999 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 47.6% (90% CI: 43.4%-51.9%) win rate for white, based on 369 Lichess games. Average game length is 32 moves with a 2.8% draw rate.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 49.8% (90% CI: 45.5%-54.1%) win rate for white, based on 357 Lichess games. Average game length is 30 moves with a 3.2% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 44.4% (90% CI: 40.1%-48.8%) win rate for white, based on 353 Lichess games. Average game length is 33 moves with a 5.5% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 48.1% (90% CI: 44.8%-51.5%) win rate for white (606 Lichess games). Draw rate is 2.2%.
In Blitz games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 48.4% (90% CI: 46.1%-50.7%) win rate for white (1.3K Lichess games). Draw rate is 3.1%.
In Rapid games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line has a 46.6% (90% CI: 42.5%-50.9%) win rate for white (379 Lichess games). Draw rate is 4.1%.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Main Line is slightly favors black with a 47.9% (90% CI: 46.2%-49.7%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 1400-1599 Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.