Italian Game: Hungarian Defense
The Hungarian Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7, a quiet answer to the Italian Game. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
5,504,872 games: White 48.4% / Draw 5.0% / Black 46.5%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,460,6031.5M | ||
| 1,370,7401.4M | ||
| 1,050,9901.1M | ||
| 748,471748K | ||
| 692,402692K | ||
| 61,69362K | ||
| 39,77140K | ||
| 20,13920K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 6, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.44 White is slightly better
Best play: 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Qd7 8. Bf4 Qg4
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 Black: Black scores 51% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 40% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3M | |
| 2200 and up | 200K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,043 |
Master games
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Artemiev, V.
- Navara, D. – Laznicka, V.
- Pruijssers, R. – Carlsen, M.
- Areshchenko, A. – Jobava, B.
- Savchenko, B. – Artemiev, V.
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
Description
The Hungarian Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7, a quiet answer to the Italian Game. With 3...Be7 Black avoids the complications of the Two Knights Defense (3...Nf6) and the Giuoco Piano (3...Bc5). White keeps more space and freer development, so Black must be ready to defend a cramped position.
Origins
The variation takes its name from a correspondence game between Paris and Pest, Hungary, played from 1842 to 1845, but it was first analysed by Cozio in the 18th century.
Main lines
White's best reply is 4.d4, aiming for an advantage in the centre. 4.d3 Nf6 transposes to the Two Knights Defense, and less well regarded moves include 4.c3 Nf6, Steinitz's choice, and 4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.d4 Bg4. After 4.d4 transpositions to the Scotch Game or the Philidor Defense are common.
- 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 transposes into a Scotch Game in which White has more space. 5.c3 is weaker: after 5...dxc3 6.Qd5 Black resigned in Midjord–Scharf, Nice Olympiad 1974, but Black can instead play 5...Na5, as Chigorin recommended. 5...Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 is the Tartakower Variation, where Unzicker considered White better after 7.Bd5 Nc5 8.cxd4 Ne6 9.Bb3.
- 4...d6 holds the centre, and White has several plans, each enough for a slight advantage. White can simplify with 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Bxd8 7.Nc3 into a slightly better queenless middlegame. Here 5...Nxe5? loses a pawn to 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5, hitting e5 and f7. White can also close the centre with 5.d5 Nb8, followed by Bd3 and c4, with positions like the Old Indian Defense. Or White keeps the tension with 5.Nc3 for active piece play.
Who plays it
The Hungarian is rarely seen in modern play. Grandmasters with strong defensive skills have played it on occasion, including Samuel Reshevsky, Vlastimil Hort and the former world champions Tigran Petrosian and Vasily Smyslov. Harding and Botterill wrote that it "can only be played for a draw" and that White should have an edge in most lines.
The numbers
On Lichess Black wins more often than White below 1800: Black wins 49.0% against 47.3% under 1400, and 48.1% against 47.7% between 1400 and 1799. From 1800 up White is ahead: 48.7% against 45.9% between 1800 and 2199, and 49.6% against 42.8% from 2200 up. Over all 5.5 million games White wins 48.4% and Black 46.5%. In 1,043 master games over the board White won 41.6%, Black 21.5%, and 36.9% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Italian Game: Hungarian Defense
4. d4 scores best for White: 53.4%, with White winning 50.9% and Black 44.0% of 1.4M games. The most played, 4. O-O, scores 50.9% in 1.5M games, and 4. Nc3 scores lowest: 49.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. 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
The Italian Game: Hungarian Defense peaked in 2017 at 0.25% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.2% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.23% | 81,428 |
| 2017 | 0.25% | 138,595 |
| 2018 | 0.24% | 191,867 |
| 2019 | 0.24% | 296,038 |
| 2020 | 0.23% | 676,932 |
| 2021 | 0.22% | 852,663 |
| 2022 | 0.21% | 782,950 |
| 2023 | 0.2% | 766,499 |
| 2024 | 0.2% | 730,458 |
| 2025 | 0.2% | 688,581 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.19% | 208,100 |
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 (1)
All 2 named lines that continue from here
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Hungarian Defense, version of 28 September 2025, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Hungarian Defense (C50)”. Lichess data as of 6 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-hungarian-defense