Clemenz Opening
1. h3
The Clemenz Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. h3. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8,343 times by this move order. White won 43%, 5% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.03 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 1… e5 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. exd5)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/7P/PPPPPPP1/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. h3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,974 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,890 | |
| 2000+ | 479 | |
| All | 8,343 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 | 3,326 (40%) | |
| 1… d5 | 2,159 (26%) | |
| 1… e6 | 508 (6%) | |
| 1… c5 | 445 (5%) | |
| 1… Nf6 | 334 (4%) | |
| 1… c6 | 281 (3%) | |
| 1… g6 | 243 (3%) | |
| 1… d6 | 219 (3%) |
Master games
927 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 11%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) – GM Anish Giri (2782) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-14
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2731) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Mar Early · 2025-03-25
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2788) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2760) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Feb Late · 2024-02-27
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-13
Search all games of the Clemenz Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM DaniloBesedes (2601) – GM Fabsid (2819) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- BishopAndSons (2671) – Commonitorium (2625) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- BishopAndSons (2671) – Commonitorium (2626) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Clemenz Opening: Spike Lee Gambit A00 · 1. h3 h5 2. g4
- Global Opening A00 · 1. h3 e5 2. a3
- Creepy Crawly Formation: Classical Defense A00 · 1. h3 d5 2. a3 e5
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.