Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack
1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nh3
The Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO A91, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nh3. It is a line of the Dutch Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11 times by this move order. White won 45%, 10% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… O-O 6. O-O d5 7. e3 c6 8. b3)
- ECO
- A91
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppppb1pp/4pn2/5p2/2PP4/6PN/PP2PPBP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nh3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O | 11 (100%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 33%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- FM Sergey Kim (2295) – Benedikt Huber (2288) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th May Late · 2022-05-24
- CM Robert-Gabriel Sava (2255) – Ian Ocampos (2211) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th Mar 2026 · 2026-03-24
- GM Mikhail Simantsev (2394) – Stanislaw Drozniak (2048) 1-0 · 19th Raciborz Open 2019 · 2019-02-10
- Marco Albano (2288) – Raj Bhopal (2077) 1/2-1/2 · 15th TCh-Eur Senior · 2013-07-20
- Ryszard Czajkowski (1984) – FM Mark Lyell (2198) 1-0 · Tatry Open 2019 · 2019-09-28
Search all games of the Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM sergeikim2003 (2495) – lug-59 (2393) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM sergeikim2003 (2460) – Cassius5171 (2388) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- CyanTrueGuide (2230) – MaxWingspan (2284) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Dutch Defense: Classical Variation (4. Bg2 Be7) 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Be7
More Dutch Defense lines (all)
- Dutch Defense (1. d4 f5) A80
- Dutch Defense: Alapin Variation A80
- Dutch Defense: Barcza Variation A80
- Dutch Defense: Hevendehl Gambit A80
- Dutch Defense: Hopton Attack A80
- Dutch Defense: Janzen-Korchnoi Gambit A80
- Dutch Defense: Kingfisher Gambit A80
- Dutch Defense: Korchnoi Attack A80
- Dutch Defense: Krejcik Gambit A80
- Dutch Defense: Krejcik Gambit, Tate Gambit A80
- Dutch Defense: Manhattan Gambit, Anti-Classical Line A80
- Dutch Defense: Manhattan Gambit, Anti-Leningrad A80
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.