Horwitz Defense

1. d4 e6

The Horwitz Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 e6. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 291,289 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2. c4 (30% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7)

ECO: A40
Moves: 2 plies
FEN: rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2
PGN: 1. d4 e6

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	108,755	51%45%
1500-1999	149,920	51%45%
2000+	32,614	50%44%
All	291,289	51%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2. c4	87,600 (30%)	52%44%
2. Bf4	56,662 (19%)	51%45%
2. Nf3	47,073 (16%)	52%44%
2. e4	45,247 (16%)	49%47%
2. e3	22,081 (8%)	50%46%
2. Nc3	17,479 (6%)	51%46%
2. c3	3,542 (1%)	49%46%
2. g3	2,163 (1%)	51%44%

Master games

40,012 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 21%, Black 34%). The strongest:

Fire 021819 (3752) – LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-05
LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3958) – Fire 021819 (3752) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-02
Houdini 6.03 (3854) – KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-22
KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) – Houdini 6.03 (3854) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-20
Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – Ethereal 12.01 (3810) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-30

Search all games of the Horwitz Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM cutemouse83 (2945) – FM Guary1 (2897) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
GM cutemouse83 (2960) – Sunrise34 (2867) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
GM xiaochess (2918) – Americanchampion (2850) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4) 1. d4

Continuations

English Defense (2. c4 b6) A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
Horwitz Defense: Zilbermints Gambit A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 e5
Kangaroo Defense A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+
Rat Defense: Small Center Defense C00 · 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d6
Benoni Defense: Franco-Sicilian Hybrid A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 exd5 4. cxd5 d6 5. Nc3 g6 6. e4 Bg7 7. Nf3 Ne7
Catalan Opening: Closed, Zagoryansky Variation E08 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8. Rd1 b6 9. a4

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.