484 games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a 50.0% expected score for White (we're 90% confident it's between 46.3% and 53.7%), based on 484 Lichess games.
Deep-dive datasets for this opening
Improves with rating: 20% → 48%
Best in Blitz (50%), worst in Classical (43%)
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, Sörensen Defense has a 48.7% (90% CI: 45.0%-52.4%) win rate for white, based on 484 rated games from Lichess.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense performs best at 2000-2199 Elo with a 49.8% win rate for white (162 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Blitz (49.8%) outperforms Bullet (46.3%) by 3.5%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a sharpness score of 97.4 (very decisive), meaning 97.4% of games end decisively. Average game length is 30 moves.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a 49.8% (90% CI: 43.4%-56.3%) win rate for white, based on 162 Lichess games. Average game length is 29 moves with a 2.8% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a 47.8% (90% CI: 41.5%-54.1%) win rate for white, based on 169 Lichess games. Average game length is 31 moves with a 1.5% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a 46.3% (90% CI: 39.4%-53.2%) win rate for white (140 Lichess games). Draw rate is 2.5%.
In Blitz games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense has a 49.8% (90% CI: 45.0%-54.5%) win rate for white (299 Lichess games). Draw rate is 2.8%.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense is slightly favors black with a 48.7% (90% CI: 45.0%-52.4%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 2000-2199 Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.