Dutch Defense 1…f5 2. c4
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Statistics from Lichess
5,838,724 games: White 48.4% / Draw 4.8% / Black 46.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Variation | 4,425,6734.4M | |
| Classical Variation | 939,299939K | |
| 219,803220K | ||
| 98,28098K | ||
| 56,51157K | ||
| 29,79030K | ||
| 26,14926K | ||
| 14,06614K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.48 White is slightly better
Best play: 2... Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nh3 Bd6 6. O-O O-O 7. Bf4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 54% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 55% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 944K | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 389K | |
| Masters, over the board | 5,183 |
Master games
- Wojtaszek, R. – Caruana, F.
- Mamedyarov, S. – Grischuk, A.
- Radjabov, T. – Nakamura, H.
- Aronian, L. – Kamsky, G.
- Mamedyarov, S. – Ponomariov, R.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Dutch Defense (ECO A84, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Dutch Defense, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. c4 (2 moves).
In 5,838,724 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.4%, Black 46.8% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nf6, in 76% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Dutch Defense: Normal Variation and Dutch Defense: Classical Variation. In all, 33 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 2. c4
The most played answer, 2…Nf6 (Normal Variation), also scores best for Black: 49.5%, with Black winning 47.0% and White 48.1% of 4.4M games. Of the main answers, 2…e6 scores lowest: 49.3%. Stockfish's first choice is also 2…Nf6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
This line peaked in 2017 at 0.27% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.22% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.26% | 91,146 |
| 2017 | 0.27% | 146,907 |
| 2018 | 0.27% | 209,018 |
| 2019 | 0.26% | 322,549 |
| 2020 | 0.24% | 688,322 |
| 2021 | 0.22% | 842,566 |
| 2022 | 0.22% | 836,446 |
| 2023 | 0.22% | 810,079 |
| 2024 | 0.21% | 770,083 |
| 2025 | 0.22% | 763,225 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.23% | 250,939 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (3)
Transpositions
All 33 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- A84 Bladel Variation 3 moves
- A84 Classical Variation 2 moves
- A84 Normal Variation 2 moves
- A84 Dutch Defense: Bellon Gambit 3 moves
- A86 Dutch Defense: Fianchetto Variation 3 moves
- A85 Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation 3 moves
- A84 Dutch Defense: Rubinstein Variation 3 moves
- A90 Dutch Defense: Stonewall Variation, Modern Variation 6 moves
- A90 Dutch Defense: Classical Variation 4 moves
- A86 Dutch Defense: Hort-Antoshin System 5 moves
- A84 Dutch Defense: Krause Variation 4 moves
- A86 Dutch Defense: Leningrad Variation 3 moves
- A90 Classical Variation 5 moves
- A91 Classical Variation 4 moves
- A87 Leningrad Variation 5 moves
- A90 Dutch Defense: Nimzo-Dutch Variation 4 moves
- A92 Classical Variation 5 moves
- A91 Blackburne Attack 5 moves
- A90 Alekhine Variation 5 moves
- A92 Dutch Defense: Alekhine Variation 6 moves
- A96 Classical Variation 6 moves
- A92 Dutch Defense: Stonewall Variation 6 moves
- A96 Buenos Aires Variation 7 moves
- A96 Huisl Variation 7 moves
- A97 Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation 7 moves
- A92 Stonewall Variation 7 moves
- A93 Botvinnik Variation 7 moves
- A98 Alatortsev-Lisitsyn Line 8 moves
- A99 Modern Main Line 8 moves
- A97 Winter Variation 8 moves
- A95 Stonewall Variation 7 moves
- A94 Dutch Defense: Stonewall Variation 8 moves
- A95 Chekhover Variation 9 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Dutch Defense (A84)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/dutch-defense-2