Basque Opening
1. d4 Nf6 2. b3
The Basque Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. b3. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 924 times by this move order. White won 46%, 4% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 2… g6 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.27 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 2… c5 3. e3 cxd4 4. exd4 d5 5. Nf3)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/3P4/1P6/P1P1PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 258 | |
| 1500-1999 | 511 | |
| 2000+ | 155 | |
| All | 924 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… g6 | 274 (30%) | |
| 2… d5 | 272 (29%) | |
| 2… e6 | 219 (24%) | |
| 2… d6 | 51 (6%) | |
| 2… c5 | 38 (4%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 20 (2%) | |
| 2… b6 | 17 (2%) | |
| 2… e5 | 14 (2%) |
Master games
77 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 13%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Benjamin Gledura (2652) – FM Carlos Martins (2231) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Mar Late · 2022-03-01
- FM Ariel Tokman (2399) – IM Marco Materia (2438) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Apr Early · 2024-04-30
- FM Kirk Ghazarian (2323) – IM Ortik Nigmatov (2427) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 19th Oct · 2021-10-19
- FM Jaiveer Mahendru (2217) – IM Milosz Szpar (2490) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Jul Early · 2025-07-01
- GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (2489) – Lindolfo Luiz Da Silva (2207) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Mar Early · 2023-03-28
Search all games of the Basque Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2751) – Chess1Love0 (2786) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- MeisterKnusperli (2431) – abobaraa77 (2431) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- ZeruHmyz (2406) – IM KingofCheapos (2450) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) 1. d4 Nf6
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.