Bird Opening: Lasker Variation
1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5
The Bird Opening: Lasker Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A03, reached after 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5. It is a line of the Bird Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 392 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. b3 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.23 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 4. Bb5+ Nbd7 5. O-O e6 6. Ne5 a6)
- ECO
- A03
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/5n2/2pp4/5P2/4PN2/PPPP2PP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 20 | |
| 1500-1999 | 229 | |
| 2000+ | 143 | |
| All | 392 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. b3 | 156 (40%) | |
| 4. d4 | 65 (17%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 56 (14%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 54 (14%) | |
| 4. c3 | 33 (8%) | |
| 4. d3 | 10 (3%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 6 (2%) | |
| 4. c4 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
205 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 18%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2701) – GM Jun Zhao (2619) 0-1 · Chess.com RCC Wk16 Swiss · 2022-05-28
- GM Raven Sturt (2459) – IM Rudik Makarian (2552) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Nov Early · 2023-11-28
- FM Dmitry Tsoi (2321) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2665) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2019 · 2019-12-29
- CM Georgijs Germanovs (2367) – GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2613) 1-0 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 16th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-16
- GM Simon K Williams (2467) – GM Kozakov, M. (2513) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th May Early · 2024-05-28
Search all games of the Bird Opening: Lasker Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Beth_Harmon1958 (2530) – FM boec-2021 (2471) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- damithk (2537) – EYCC_champion_2026 (2444) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Doctor_check_99 (2562) – pIn_a (2385) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bird Opening: Dutch Variation 1. f4 d5
More Bird Opening lines (all)
- Bird Opening A02
- 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
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.