Elephant Gambit

Black strikes back with 2...d5 at once, offering a pawn to open the game.

It is reached after 4 moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5.

White is to move and has 28 legal moves. Over the next four moves — two for each side — the game can branch into 1,122,906 different games. Those games reach 370,511 different positions: most positions can be reached in more than one way, 3 on average.

The Lichess opening list names 3 further lines after this position, such as Maróczy Gambit (3. exd5 Bd6) and Paulsen Countergambit (3. exd5 e4).

The same moves can be played in 4 different legal orders that all reach this position. For example 1. Nf3 e5 2. e4 d5, which starts as the Zukertort Opening.