Czech Defense

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6

The Czech Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B07, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8,339 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (34% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.83 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. f4 Qa5 5. Bd3 e5 6. Ne2 Be7)

ECO: B07
Moves: 6 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2pp1n2/8/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4
PGN: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	1,879	49%48%
1500-1999	4,684	49%47%
2000+	1,776	51%44%
All	8,339	49%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
4. Nf3	2,805 (34%)	49%46%
4. f4	1,261 (15%)	54%42%
4. Bg5	1,163 (14%)	46%49%
4. Bd3	695 (8%)	47%49%
4. Bc4	468 (6%)	49%46%
4. Be3	427 (5%)	48%47%
4. h3	318 (4%)	47%50%
4. f3	278 (3%)	53%44%

Master games

5,435 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 15%, Black 41%). The strongest:

Komodo 2503.05 (3912) – Fire 021819 (3752) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-24
Fire 021819 (3752) – Komodo 2503.05 (3912) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-21
Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-12
Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-08
KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-10

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Sunrise34 (2903) – puziko52 (2868) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Yakamuzosan (2704) – puziko52 (2772) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
RoryMcCann (2655) – FM dawid1398 (2699) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Pirc Defense (2. d4 Nf6) 1. e4 d6 2. 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.