Bird Opening: Dutch Variation
1. f4 d5
The Bird Opening: Dutch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A03, reached after 1. f4 d5. It is a line of the Bird Opening. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 51,592 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2. Nf3 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Be2 Nf6)
- ECO
- A03
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/5P2/8/PPPPP1PP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. f4 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 16,446 | |
| 1500-1999 | 29,408 | |
| 2000+ | 5,738 | |
| All | 51,592 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. Nf3 | 37,185 (72%) | |
| 2. d4 | 5,194 (10%) | |
| 2. e3 | 3,799 (7%) | |
| 2. g3 | 1,585 (3%) | |
| 2. d3 | 1,146 (2%) | |
| 2. b3 | 577 (1%) | |
| 2. e4 Williams Gambit (1… d5 2. e4) | 542 (1%) | |
| 2. c4 Sturm Gambit | 449 (1%) |
Master games
7,322 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 18%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-07
- Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) 0-1 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-03
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2808) 1-0 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2017-06-29
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM So, W. (2765) 0-1 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2018-11-14
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) – GM Gukesh D (2767) 1/2-1/2 · Checkmate: USA vs India · 2025-10-04
Search all games of the Bird Opening: Dutch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM AlexTriapishko (2814) – DikiyDjo (2691) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- BEagles1903 (2688) – ScaryIndianJunior (2802) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- BadApp_le (2633) – DmDonCh (2851) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bird Opening 1. f4
Continuations
- Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, Dudweiler Gambit A03 · 1. f4 d5 2. g4
- Bird Opening: Sturm Gambit A03 · 1. f4 d5 2. c4
- Bird Opening: Williams Gambit (1… d5 2. e4) A03 · 1. f4 d5 2. e4
- Bird Opening: Lasker Variation A03 · 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5
- Bird Opening: Thomas Gambit A03 · 1. f4 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 d4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3
More Bird Opening lines (all)
- Bird Opening: Batavo-Polish Attack A02
- Bird Opening: Double Duck Formation A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Bahr Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Langheld Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Lasker Variation A02
- Bird Opening: From's Gambit, Lipke Variation A02
- Bird Opening: Hobbs Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Hobbs-Zilbermints Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Horsefly Defense A02
- Bird Opening: Lasker Gambit A02
- Bird Opening: Mujannah A02
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.