Dutch Defense: Classical Variation (2. c4 e6)
1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6
The Dutch Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A84, reached after 1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6. 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 3,987 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7)
- ECO
- A84
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp2pp/4p3/5p2/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 895 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,543 | |
| 2000+ | 549 | |
| All | 3,987 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 Rubinstein Variation | 2,699 (68%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 600 (15%) | |
| 3. e3 | 196 (5%) | |
| 3. g3 | 149 (4%) | |
| 3. a3 | 124 (3%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 78 (2%) | |
| 3. d5 | 28 (1%) | |
| 3. e4 Bellon Gambit | 28 (1%) |
Master games
319 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 25%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2715) – GM Bassem Amin (2635) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-20
- GM Alexey Sarana (2654) – GM Bassem Amin (2686) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 30th June · 2020-06-30
- GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2621) – GM Bassem Amin (2635) 0-1 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-20
- GM Mikhail Bryakin (2463) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1-0 · Titled Tue 3rd Jan Early · 2023-01-03
- GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2509) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2674) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 3rd Nov · 2020-11-03
Search all games of the Dutch Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM SouthAfricanWolf (2538) – contrapunctus_XI (2666) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- schoolchess93 (2595) – FM lukas1254 (2592) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Zentheon (2523) – ChessYoung (2536) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Dutch Defense (1… f5 2. c4) 1. d4 f5 2. c4
Continuations
- Dutch Defense: Bellon Gambit A84 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. e4
- Dutch Defense: Rubinstein Variation A84 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
- Dutch Defense: Stonewall Variation, Modern Variation A90 · 1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. O-O Bd6
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.