Dutch Defense: Classical Variation (6. O-O d6)

1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6

The Dutch Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A96, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6. It is a line of the Dutch Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4 times by this move order. White won 25%, 0% were drawn and Black won 75%. The most popular continuation is 7. b3 (50% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.56 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7. b3 Ne4 8. Bb2 Nd7 9. Ne1 c6)

ECO: A96
Moves: 12 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/ppp1b1pp/3ppn2/5p2/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 7
PGN: 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
2000+	4	25%75%
All	4	25%75%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
7. b3	2 (50%)	50%50%
7. Nc3	2 (50%)	100%

Master games

12 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 33%, Black 17%). The strongest:

GM Xue Zhao (2567) – GM Dimitri Reinderman (2593) 0-1 · Tata Steel Challengers · 2014-01-19
GM Fernando Peralta (2567) – FM Petr Simek (2354) 1-0 · 13th Teplice Open 2018 · 2018-06-24
IM Viktor Matviishen (2476) – FM Anatole Vlachos (2434) 1/2-1/2 · World Youth U16 Olympiad · 2018-12-02
IM Uurtsaikh Agibileg (2445) – IM Tarun Kanyamarala (2286) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Feb Early · 2024-02-13
WIM Assel Serikbay (2247) – IM Anatole Vlachos (2437) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 20th Oct · 2020-10-20

Search all games of the Dutch Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

FM BonaventuraB (2460) – Nechto37 (2486) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
MaxxxMan (2289) – varpo (2186) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
TomasI_25 (2222) – pronin111 (2234) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 5s

Comes from

Dutch Defense: Classical Variation (5. Nf3 O-O) 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O

Continuations

Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Buenos Aires Variation A96 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 a5
Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Huisl Variation A96 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Ne4
Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation A97 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8

More Dutch Defense lines (all)

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.