A00

Polish Opening: Czech Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

1,543,767 games: White 49.5% / Draw 4.9% / Black 45.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	584,716585K
	304,871305K
	191,798192K
	110,314110K
	94,47894K
	70,44570K
	58,94759K
	57,36457K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.01 The position is about equal

Best play: 3. c4 Nf6 4. a3 Be7 5. Nc3 a5 6. e3 O-O 7. Nf3 e4

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 50% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	264K
1400–1799	1.2M
1800–2199	798K
2200 and up	39K
Masters, over the board	119

Master games

Ivanchuk, V. – Li Chao2 1–0, 2016
Grigoryan, K. – Moussard, J. 1–0, 2019
Grigoryan, K. – Moussard, J. 0–1, 2019
Miralles, G. – Bologan, V. 0–1, 2003
Campora, D. H. – Komljenovic, D. 1–0, 2005

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

Overview

Polish Opening: Czech Defense (ECO A00, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Polish Opening, reached after 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 d6 (2 moves).

In 1,543,767 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.5%, Black 45.7% and 4.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. e3, in 38% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Polish Opening: Czech Defense

3. b5 scores best for White: 53.3%, with White winning 50.8% and Black 44.1% of 192K games. The most played, 3. e3, scores 52.3% in 585K games, and 3. e4 scores lowest: 48.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 3. c4.

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 Opening: Czech Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.057% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.083%.

0.083%0.057%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.083%	29,474
2017	0.08%	43,792
2018	0.068%	53,770
2019	0.066%	82,599
2020	0.059%	171,358
2021	0.058%	225,689
2022	0.06%	223,903
2023	0.058%	217,885
2024	0.058%	207,634
2025	0.057%	197,801
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.057%	62,170

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Polish Opening: Czech Defense (A00)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/polish-opening-czech-defense