St. George Defense
The St. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
3,658,441 games: White 50.1% / Draw 4.1% / Black 45.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,779,7701.8M | ||
| 1,022,0741M | ||
| 268,956269K | ||
| 180,569181K | ||
| 168,364168K | ||
| 58,26658K | ||
| 30,54231K | ||
| 30,27530K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 5, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.52 White is slightly better
Best play: 2. d4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Ne2 c5
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 46% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 40% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 2.3M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.5M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 232K | |
| Masters, over the board | 463 |
Master games
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Xiong, J.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Xiong, J.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Xiong, J.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Xiong, J.
- Maksimovic, B. – Carlsen, M.
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
Description
The St. George Defense is 1.e4 a6, an unorthodox reply in which Black prepares ...b5 and a queenside fianchetto instead of fighting for the centre at once. It is also known as the Baker's Defense, the Birmingham Defense and the Basman Counterattack, and is classified as B00.
Origins
The first known game with it was a simultaneous game on 11 December 1868 between an English amateur, J. Baker, and Wilhelm Steinitz, later the first official World Champion. Baker won.
Its most famous appearance came at the 1980 European Team Championship in Skara, Sweden, where Tony Miles beat the reigning World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it. It got the name "Birmingham Defense" at that time, after Miles's home town. Much of the theory was worked out by the English IM Michael Basman, who also played it.
Boris Spassky reached it by transposition in the 22nd game of his 1966 World Championship match against Tigran Petrosian: 1.d4 b5 2.e4 Bb7 3.f3 a6. It did not go well. Petrosian won and reached the 12 points he needed to keep his title.
The idea
Players of the St. George are usually willing to give up the centre in order to attack from the flank, and to avoid theory. The move 1...a6 also keeps a white bishop off b5, so Black can continue in the style of the French Defense with ...e6 and ...d5, with sharp play and quick chances on the queenside.
Main lines
The major lines start 1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 and then branch.
- 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 e6 5.O-O Nf6 is the main line. The set-up with 4...e6 is called the Polish Variation on this site.
- 3.c4, the Three Pawns Attack or St. George Gambit: 3...e6 4.cxb5 axb5 5.Bxb5 Bb7. Black can also play 3...Bb7 and offer the b-pawn for White's e-pawn.
- The Neo-Spanish Variation imitates the Ruy Lopez: 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 d6 5.O-O Nf6 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.Re1 e5. After 8.c3 c5 9.Bc2 Be7 10.h3 O-O the game has simply become the Breyer Defense of the Spanish Game.
- 2...e6 3.Nf3 d5 gives a hybrid of the St. George and the French, with Advance, Exchange and Two Knights versions.
Who should play it
The St. George suits players who want to leave theory early and are happy to play against a broad white centre. It is a surprise weapon: Miles's win over Karpov shows what it can do, Spassky's loss to Petrosian what can go wrong.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.1% of the 3.7 million games and Black 45.8%. The gap narrows as the rating rises: under 1400 White wins 51.6% against 44.5%, and from 2200 up 47.3% against 46.6%. In 463 master games over the board White won 47.9%, Black 28.1%, and 24.0% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the St. George Defense
The most played answer, 2. d4, also scores best for White: 53.0%, with White winning 50.9% and Black 44.9% of 1.8M games. Of the main answers, 2. Bc4 scores lowest: 51.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 2. d4.
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 St. George Defense has stayed between 0.13% and 0.17% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.15% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.17% | 61,424 |
| 2017 | 0.17% | 91,604 |
| 2018 | 0.14% | 111,013 |
| 2019 | 0.15% | 187,085 |
| 2020 | 0.13% | 383,818 |
| 2021 | 0.14% | 528,360 |
| 2022 | 0.13% | 497,489 |
| 2023 | 0.14% | 529,202 |
| 2024 | 0.15% | 541,539 |
| 2025 | 0.15% | 511,020 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.14% | 152,008 |
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 (3)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article St. George Defence, version of 18 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “St. George Defense (B00)”. Lichess data as of 5 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/st-george-defense