Tree path 2 levels King's Pawn Game › St. George Defense
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B00

St. George Defense

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Overview

St. George Defense is a named branch in the Semi-Open Games group of chess theory, classified under ECO B00.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

It is reached after 2 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 a6.

It branches immediately from King's Pawn Game in the opening tree.

3 named variations grow from this line, including Polish Variation, San Jorge Variation, Zilbermints Gambit.

Use the board to walk through every move, check how the position has scored on Lichess, or take it head-to-head against Stockfish.

ECO code
B00
Group
Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies
2
Parent
King's Pawn Game
Direct variations
3

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

3,658,441 games · White 50.1% / Draw 4.1% / Black 45.8%

MovesGamesW / D / B
d41,779,770
Nf31,022,074
Bc4268,956
f4180,569
Nc3168,364
d358,266
c430,542
a430,275

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 00:49:59

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Variations (3)