Dutch Defense: Normal Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
4,424,262 games: White 48.1% / Draw 4.9% / Black 47.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation | 3,231,2833.2M | |
| 463,915464K | ||
| Dutch Defense: Fianchetto Variation | 229,640230K | |
| 183,339183K | ||
| 135,492135K | ||
| 54,85455K | ||
| 26,16726K | ||
| 19,78020K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.47 White is slightly better
Best play: 3. g3 e6 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 d5 7. O-O Ne4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 47% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 536K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 327K | |
| Masters, over the board | 4,583 |
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: Normal Variation (ECO A84, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Dutch Defense, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 (2 moves).
In 4,424,262 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.1%, Black 47.0% and 4.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Nc3, in 73% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation and Dutch Defense: Fianchetto Variation. In all, 27 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the Dutch Defense: Normal Variation
3. g3 (Dutch Defense: Fianchetto Variation) scores best for White: 53.9%, with White winning 51.0% and Black 43.2% of 230K games. The most played answer, 3. Nc3, scores lowest: 50.4% in 3.2M games. Stockfish's first choice is also 3. g3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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
The Dutch Defense: Normal Variation peaked in 2017 at 0.2% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.16% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.19% | 66,548 |
| 2017 | 0.2% | 111,339 |
| 2018 | 0.2% | 158,790 |
| 2019 | 0.2% | 251,640 |
| 2020 | 0.18% | 535,318 |
| 2021 | 0.17% | 660,260 |
| 2022 | 0.17% | 632,528 |
| 2023 | 0.16% | 607,433 |
| 2024 | 0.16% | 573,338 |
| 2025 | 0.16% | 564,296 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.17% | 182,616 |
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 (2)
All 27 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- A86 Dutch Defense: Fianchetto Variation 3 moves
- A85 Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation 3 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: Normal Variation (A84)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/dutch-defense-normal-variation