Polish Defense
The Polish Defense is 1.d4 b5: Black plays ...b5 at once, by analogy with the Polish Opening, 1.b4. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
1,141,193 games: White 49.3% / Draw 4.4% / Black 46.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 470,974471K | ||
| 197,566198K | ||
| 153,966154K | ||
| 111,178111K | ||
| 89,43389K | ||
| 21,03521K | ||
| 16,57817K | ||
| 16,53117K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+1.16 White is better
Best play: 2. e4 a6 3. a4 b4 4. Bd3 e6 5. Nd2 Nf6 6. e5 Nd5
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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 42% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 38% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 648K | |
| 1400–1799 | 781K | |
| 1800–2199 | 621K | |
| 2200 and up | 96K | |
| Masters, over the board | 666 |
Master games
- Wojtaszek, R. – Carlsen, M.
- Grischuk, A. – Artemiev, V.
- Smirnov, A. – Xiong, J.
- Brown, M. W. – Fedoseev, V.
- Jakovenko, D. – Pridorozhni, A.
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 Polish Defense is 1.d4 b5: Black plays ...b5 at once, by analogy with the Polish Opening, 1.b4. Black aims at the c4-square, but against 2.e4, which threatens Bxb5, the move is generally considered dubious. The name is also used for later ...b5 lines such as 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b5, sometimes called the Polish Defense Deferred. The ECO code is A40.
Origins
The original line was played by Alexander Wagner, a Polish player and opening analyst, against Kuhn in the 1913 Swiss Correspondence Championship. Wagner published an analysis of it in Deutsches Wochenschach in 1914, when he was living in Stanislau (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine).
Modern Chess Openings changed its verdict over time. MCO-9 (1957) said the Polish "fails because it neglects the centre", MCO-10 (1965) softened that to "neglects the centre, but is not refuted", and MCO-14 (1999) notes that the lines where Black waits and plays ...b5 on move two are much safer than 1...b5.
Relation to the St. George
The Polish is closely related to the St. George Defense, 1.e4 a6 with ...b5, into which it often transposes. Boris Spassky played 1.d4 b5 against Tigran Petrosian in the decisive 22nd game of their 1966 World Championship match. Behind by a point with at most three games left, Spassky turned down a chance to draw and played for a win. Petrosian won the game and kept his title.
The Spassky Variation
Against the Réti or the King's Indian Attack, ...b5 is fully respectable. The line 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5, sometimes called the Spassky Variation after the same 1966 match, has been played successfully by Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov and Magnus Carlsen among others. It prepares to fianchetto the queen's bishop and stops White from playing c4. Play typically continues 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.O-O e6, and 5.d4 transposes to 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b5.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 49.3% of the 1.1 million games and Black 46.3%. Lower down White does much better: 55.1% against 39.9% under 1400. The gap closes as the rating rises, and from 2200 up the sides are level, 46.9% against 46.6%. In 666 master games over the board White won 48.0%, Black 23.9%, and 28.1% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Polish Defense
2. Nf3 scores best for White: 53.1%, with White winning 50.6% and Black 44.5% of 198K games. The most played, 2. e4, scores 51.5% in 471K games, and 2. c4 scores lowest: 50.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 2. e4.
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 Polish Defense peaked in 2017 at 0.051% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.044% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.05% | 17,929 |
| 2017 | 0.051% | 28,108 |
| 2018 | 0.05% | 39,086 |
| 2019 | 0.047% | 58,375 |
| 2020 | 0.042% | 121,655 |
| 2021 | 0.04% | 156,225 |
| 2022 | 0.043% | 159,603 |
| 2023 | 0.046% | 174,743 |
| 2024 | 0.046% | 163,368 |
| 2025 | 0.044% | 151,631 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.045% | 48,811 |
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)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Polish Defense, 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. “Polish Defense (A40)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/polish-defense