A45

Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack

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Statistics from Lichess

422,326 games: White 46.7% / Draw 4.0% / Black 49.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	118,859119K
	105,086105K
	67,50368K
	53,42253K
	31,37131K
	27,76828K
	4,7284,728
	4,0044,004

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 28, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.55 Black is slightly better

Best play: 3... c5 4. e4 e6 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. Nxd5 exd5 8. c3

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: White scores 48% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	858K
1400–1799	418K
1800–2199	228K
2200 and up	21K
Masters, over the board	27

Master games

Mamedyarov, S. – So, W. ½–½, 2019
Tatar – Umansky, M. 1–0, 2007
Erdo, R. 2. 0. B. 4. m. – Sergey M, R. 2. 0. B. 4. m. 0–1, 2006
Mishra, N. K. – Ramesh, R. B. ½–½, 2002
San Marco, B. – Hebden, M. 0–1, 2006

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

Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack (ECO A45, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Paleface Attack, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. Nc3 (3 moves).

In 422,326 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.7%, Black 49.4% and 4.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Bf5, in 28% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack

3…c5 scores best for Black: 60.2%, with Black winning 58.1% and White 37.7% of 68K games. The most played, 3…Bf5, scores 49.2% in 119K games, and 3…c6 scores lowest: 48.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…c5.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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 Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack dipped to 0.012% of Lichess games in 2017 and has recovered since: 0.019% in 2025.

0.017%0.019%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.017%	6,164
2017	0.012%	6,578
2018	0.013%	10,266
2019	0.016%	19,732
2020	0.014%	40,642
2021	0.015%	58,082
2022	0.016%	58,351
2023	0.016%	61,164
2024	0.018%	65,142
2025	0.019%	66,289
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.021%	22,865

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

Transpositions

A45 Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation then 3. f3

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack (A45)”. Lichess data as of 28 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-veresov-richter-attack