Global Opening
1. h3 e5 2. a3
The Global Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. h3 e5 2. a3. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 784 times by this move order. White won 46%, 3% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.40 (Stockfish, depth 35; best line 2… d5 3. e3 Be6 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/8/P6P/1PPPPPP1/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. h3 e5 2. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 573 | |
| 1500-1999 | 201 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 784 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 412 (53%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 104 (13%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 81 (10%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 79 (10%) | |
| 2… d6 | 40 (5%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 16 (2%) | |
| 2… e4 | 14 (2%) | |
| 2… Qh4 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
25 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 4%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Artem Omelja (2457) – FM William Graif (2304) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Jul Late · 2023-07-18
- IM Tomas Laurusas (2557) – Krzysztof Budrewicz (2183) 0-1 · European Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-17
- CM Lazar Matyassy (2281) – IM Meri Arabidze (2457) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st Jan Early · 2025-01-21
- IM Bardiya Daneshvar (2405) – FM Alexander Khripachenko (2288) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Feb A · 2022-02-01
- IM Mads Vestby-Ellingsen (2340) – IM Guillermo Baches Garcia (2329) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 23rd Mar · 2021-03-23
Search all games of the Global Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Tartiflette-Sauvage (2430) – M_ax2006 (2337) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Maxsen08 (2390) – masterQuin (2071) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- Stormbringer_R (2103) – itstime4potato (2164) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Clemenz Opening 1. h3
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.