Barnes Defense

1. e4 f6

The Barnes Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 f6. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6,389 times by this move order. White won 57%, 4% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (41% of games).

Engine evaluation: +1.12 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 2. Nc3 Nh6 3. d4 Nf7 4. Qf3 e6)

ECO: B00
Moves: 2 plies
FEN: rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/5p2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2
PGN: 1. e4 f6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	3,752	58%38%
1500-1999	2,046	55%41%
2000+	591	54%41%
All	6,389	57%39%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2. d4	2,650 (41%)	57%39%
2. Nf3	1,653 (26%)	58%37%
2. Bc4	635 (10%)	54%42%
2. Nc3	456 (7%)	57%40%
2. f4	249 (4%)	61%35%
2. Qh5+	196 (3%)	54%39%
2. d3	173 (3%)	47%45%
2. Qf3	74 (1%)	54%45%

Master games

111 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 5%, Black 39%). The strongest:

GM Novendra Priasmoro (2501) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2701) 0-1 · Chess.com RCC Wk16 Swiss · 2022-05-28
FM Sina Movahed (2339) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Nov Early · 2022-11-22
FM Reza Mahdavi (2389) – GM Nihal Sarin (2669) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Jun Late · 2024-06-04
GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder (2457) – IM Collin Colbow (2441) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Sep Late · 2024-09-10
GM Visakh N R (2516) – FM Jose Antonio Herrera Reyes (2304) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 26th Jan · 2021-01-26

Search all games of the Barnes Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

FM Andrey_Klymchuk (2671) – Terribly_Bored (2482) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
WHAFLC-Aca (2603) – Training_Games2next (2501) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
SergeiRK (2470) – Pblu35 (2613) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4

Continuations

Fried Fox Defense B00 · 1. e4 f6 2. d4 Kf7
Owen Defense: Unicorn Variation B00 · 1. e4 f6 2. d4 b6 3. c4 Bb7

Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.