A41

Robatsch Defense

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

187,073 games: White 46.7% / Draw 5.1% / Black 48.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	84,11284K
	50,78551K
	34,12634K
	9,2849,284
	2,5312,531
	2,4802,480
	1,3371,337
	673673

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 13, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.33 White is slightly better

Best play: 5. Be2 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. d5 Nb8 8. Qc2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7

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 51% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 50% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	40K
1400–1799	155K
1800–2199	88K
2200 and up	12K
Masters, over the board	538

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 27, 2026

Overview

Robatsch Defense (ECO A41, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game, reached after 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e4 Bg4 (4 moves).

In 187,073 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.7%, Black 48.2% and 5.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Be2, in 45% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the Robatsch Defense

The most played answer, 5. Be2, also scores best for White: 50.9%, with White winning 48.2% and Black 46.4% of 84K games. Of the main answers, 5. Be3 scores lowest: 47.8%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. Be2.

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 Robatsch Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.0063% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0085%.

0.0085%0.0063%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0085%	3,031
2017	0.0086%	4,733
2018	0.0089%	6,960
2019	0.0085%	10,592
2020	0.0081%	23,733
2021	0.0078%	30,543
2022	0.0073%	27,239
2023	0.0069%	25,778
2024	0.0063%	22,717
2025	0.0063%	21,873
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0063%	6,888

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. “Robatsch Defense (A41)”. Lichess data as of 13 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/robatsch-defense