Goldsmith Defense: Picklepuss Defense
1. e4 h5 2. d4 Nf6
The Goldsmith Defense: Picklepuss Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 h5 2. d4 Nf6. It is a line of the Goldsmith Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 74 times by this move order. White won 66%, 3% were drawn and Black won 31%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.30 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 3. e5 Ng8 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bd3 d5)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppppppp1/5n2/7p/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 h5 2. d4 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 59 | |
| 1500-1999 | 13 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 74 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 | 38 (51%) | |
| 3. e5 | 32 (43%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 3 (4%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 1 (1%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- el-juego-de-calamar (2148) – carlosRosario (2169) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- gord9999 (2032) – ChessVeteran (2020) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- jangkunggol234 (1822) – JIN_KAFIRRR (1833) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Goldsmith Defense 1. e4 h5
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.