Caissa Codex
A13

English Opening: Agincourt Defense 2. Nf3 d5

Chess diagram: English Opening: Agincourt Defense after 2…d5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

2,073,102 games: White 51.1% / Draw 6.5% / Black 42.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
587,727588K
438,211438K
381,831382K
361,065361K
225,993226K
56,45656K
7,0047,004
6,7976,797

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.20 The position is about equal

Best play: 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 c5

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 46% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 151K
1400–1799 536K
1800–2199 1.2M
2200 and up 537K
Masters, over the board 13K

Master games

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

English Opening: Agincourt Defense (ECO A13, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Agincourt Defense, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 (2 moves).

In 2,073,102 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 42.4% and 6.5% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. g3, in 28% of those games.

It branches into 5 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Neo-Catalan and English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Kurajica Defense. In all, 15 named lines continue from it.

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How to answer 2…d5

The most played answer, 3. g3, also scores best for White: 56.1%, with White winning 52.5% and Black 40.3% of 588K games. Of the main answers, 3. cxd5 scores lowest: 51.5%. Stockfish's first choice is 3. d4.

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

This line dipped to 0.071% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.087% in 2025.

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.073%26,186
20170.083%45,934
20180.099%77,518
20190.092%114,147
20200.082%240,868
20210.071%277,902
20220.073%274,398
20230.076%284,454
20240.081%291,862
20250.087%301,049
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.091%100,267

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 (5)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 2…d5, the position after English Opening: Agincourt Defense also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

All 15 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Agincourt Defense (A13)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-agincourt-defense-3

https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-agincourt-defense-3