Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz Variation
The Fajarowicz Variation is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4, the less common branch of the Budapest Gambit. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
590,575 games: White 47.2% / Draw 5.8% / Black 47.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 248,716249K | ||
| 80,72081K | ||
| 42,25442K | ||
| 39,62140K | ||
| 38,02638K | ||
| Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz-Steiner Variation | 33,61134K | |
| 22,82423K | ||
| 22,06022K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+1.41 White is better
Best play: 4. a3 d6 5. Qc2 Nc5 6. exd6 Bxd6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Nf3 Qf6
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 49% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 32% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 37K | |
| 1400–1799 | 176K | |
| 1800–2199 | 380K | |
| 2200 and up | 92K | |
| Masters, over the board | 430 |
Master games
- Kasimdzhanov, R. – Schlindwein, R.
- Van Wely, L. – Alburt, L. O.
- Epishin, V. – Bellon Lopez, J. M.
- Dautov, R. – Gutman, L.
- Dzagnidze, N. – Cramling, P.
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 27, 2026
Description
The Fajarowicz Variation is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4, the less common branch of the Budapest Gambit. Black makes no immediate effort to regain the gambit pawn and relies on active piece play and tactical tricks, such as ...Bb4+ at an awkward moment for White, ...Qf6 hitting b2 and f2, and pressure on d3.
History
The variation is said to have come from the chess circles of Leipzig. The first important game was H. Steiner–Fajarowicz at the Wiesbaden tournament of 1928.
4.a3
4.a3 stops both the bishop check and the knight jump to b4, and prepares Qc2 to undermine Black's knight. Lalic and de Firmian both consider it White's best move, and de Firmian assesses it as leading to a large advantage for White. Lalic considers 4...b6 the best reply, so that Qc2 can be met by ...Bb7. White cannot win a piece with 5.Qd5, because of the trick 5...Nc5 6.Qxa8 Bb7 7.Qxa7 Nc6, trapping the queen.
4.Nf3
4.Nf3 develops a piece and covers d2. After 4...Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 Nc6 6.a3 Black can easily get confused by the move order: 6...Nxd2 7.axb4 Nxf3+ 8.gxf3 Nxe5 9.Rg1 Qe7 10.Ra3 gives White a strong initiative.
The numbers
On Lichess the results are almost level: White wins 47.2% of the 590,575 games and Black 47.0%. Masters have done much better with White: in 430 games over the board White won 52.3%, Black 15.8%, and 31.9% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz Variation
4. Nd2 scores best for White: 54.9%, with White winning 51.1% and Black 41.2% of 42K games. The most played, 4. Nf3, scores 51.2% in 249K games, and 4. Qd4 scores lowest: 46.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 4. a3.
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 Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz Variation peaked in 2020 at 0.026% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.02% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.019% | 6,626 |
| 2017 | 0.023% | 12,512 |
| 2018 | 0.023% | 18,027 |
| 2019 | 0.019% | 23,906 |
| 2020 | 0.026% | 77,465 |
| 2021 | 0.025% | 99,646 |
| 2022 | 0.026% | 96,283 |
| 2023 | 0.022% | 83,127 |
| 2024 | 0.02% | 70,524 |
| 2025 | 0.02% | 70,411 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.021% | 22,493 |
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)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Budapest Gambit, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Indian Defense: Budapest Defense, Fajarowicz Variation (A51)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/indian-defense-budapest-defense-fajarowicz-variation