Caissa Codex
D02

Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation

Chess diagram: Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation after 2. Nf3

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

61,296,521 games: White 51.1% / Draw 5.6% / Black 43.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation 21,174,48221.2M
10,412,55510.4M
Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation 8,994,2109M
5,904,4335.9M
5,755,8875.8M
Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation 3,825,5773.8M
Queen's Pawn Game: Anti-Torre 2,823,5572.8M
834,195834K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.17 The position is about equal

Best play: 2... Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O

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 53% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 29.8M
1400–1799 43.3M
1800–2199 33M
2200 and up 5.4M
Masters, over the board 74K

Master games

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

Overview

Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (ECO D02, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 (2 moves).

In 61,296,521 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 43.3% and 5.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nf6, in 35% of those games.

It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation and Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation. In all, 29 named lines continue from it.

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How to play against the Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation

2…c5 (Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation) scores best for Black: 47.6%, with Black winning 45.0% and White 49.9% of 3.8M games. The most played, 2…Nf6, scores 47.0% in 21.2M games, and 2…Nc6 scores lowest: 43.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…Nf6.

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: Zukertort Variation holds steady at about 2.4% of Lichess games a year since 2016.

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20162.3%833,166
20172.4%1,302,468
20182.4%1,854,628
20192.2%2,791,022
20202.3%6,844,895
20212.2%8,779,803
20222.4%9,006,776
20232.4%9,146,849
20242.4%8,668,938
20252.4%8,382,303
2026 (Jan–Apr)2.4%2,652,694

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 (6)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 2. Nf3, the position after Queen's Pawn Game also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

All 29 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (D02)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-zukertort-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-zukertort-variation