2.5K games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
At all ratings, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 53.9% expected score for Black (we're 90% confident it's between 52.3% and 55.6%), based on 2.5K Lichess games.
Deep-dive datasets for this opening
Declines with rating: 68% → 51%
Best in UltraBullet (71%), worst in Classical (33%)
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, Zukertort Defense has a 44.7% (90% CI: 43.0%-46.3%) win rate for white, based on 2.5K rated games from Lichess.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense performs best at 1000-1199 Elo with a 57.3% win rate for white (57 games). Win rate tends to decline at higher ratings as opponents know the theory better.
Bullet (47.7%) outperforms Rapid (38.5%) by 9.2%. Choose your time control wisely.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a sharpness score of 97.2 (very decisive), meaning 97.2% of games end decisively. Average game length is 28 moves.
At 1200-1399 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 47.7% (90% CI: 40.9%-54.6%) win rate for white, based on 142 Lichess games. Average game length is 26 moves with a 2.4% draw rate.
At 1400-1599 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 42.5% (90% CI: 37.6%-47.6%) win rate for white, based on 263 Lichess games. Average game length is 25 moves with a 2.5% draw rate.
At 1600-1799 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 46.0% (90% CI: 42.1%-50.0%) win rate for white, based on 421 Lichess games. Average game length is 26 moves with a 1.3% draw rate.
At 1800-1999 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 45.4% (90% CI: 41.6%-49.3%) win rate for white, based on 453 Lichess games. Average game length is 28 moves with a 2.1% draw rate.
At 2000-2199 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 43.9% (90% CI: 40.5%-47.4%) win rate for white, based on 553 Lichess games. Average game length is 29 moves with a 3.9% draw rate.
At 2200-2499 Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 42.2% (90% CI: 38.4%-46.1%) win rate for white, based on 445 Lichess games. Average game length is 31 moves with a 4.8% draw rate.
At 2500+ Elo, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 45.2% (90% CI: 38.2%-52.4%) win rate for white, based on 130 Lichess games. Average game length is 34 moves with a 3.4% draw rate.
In Bullet games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 47.7% (90% CI: 44.9%-50.5%) win rate for white (867 Lichess games). Draw rate is 2.5%.
In Blitz games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 43.9% (90% CI: 41.7%-46.2%) win rate for white (1.3K Lichess games). Draw rate is 3.0%.
In Rapid games, the Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense has a 38.5% (90% CI: 34.0%-43.1%) win rate for white (306 Lichess games). Draw rate is 3.4%.
The Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense is slightly favors black with a 44.7% (90% CI: 43.0%-46.3%) win rate across all ratings. It performs best at 1000-1199 Elo. Your results depend on your rating, time control, and how well you know the typical plans.