Kádas Opening
1. h4
The Kádas Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. h4. Black is to move. 8 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 13,053 times by this move order. White won 42%, 6% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.36 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 1… Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/7P/8/PPPPPPP1/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. h4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8,417 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,927 | |
| 2000+ | 709 | |
| All | 13,053 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 | 5,279 (40%) | |
| 1… d5 | 3,245 (25%) | |
| 1… e6 | 834 (6%) | |
| 1… c5 | 558 (4%) | |
| 1… h5 | 500 (4%) | |
| 1… Nf6 | 454 (3%) | |
| 1… c6 | 354 (3%) | |
| 1… g6 | 341 (3%) |
Master games
1,825 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 9%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2829) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Nov Early · 2023-11-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2829) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Nov Late · 2023-11-07
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM Yi Wei (2727) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Prelim · 2022-05-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2829) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2732) 1-0 · Titled Tue 21st Nov Late · 2023-11-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2700) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th Jan Late · 2023-01-24
Search all games of the Kádas Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2912) – Kruciatos (2712) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Lifvix01 (2794) – GM sillyMASTER (2814) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2872) – smihir6 (2698) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Kádas Opening: Koola-Koola Variation A00 · 1. h4 a5
- Kádas Opening: Schneider Gambit A00 · 1. h4 g5
- Kádas Opening: Beginner's Trap A00 · 1. h4 d5 2. Rh3
- Kádas Opening: Kádas Gambit (1… c5 2. b4) A00 · 1. h4 c5 2. b4
- Kádas Opening: Kádas Gambit (2… exd4 3. c3) A00 · 1. h4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3
- Kádas Opening: Myers Variation A00 · 1. h4 d5 2. d4 c5 3. e4
- Kádas Opening: Steinbok Gambit A00 · 1. h4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. d3
- Kádas Opening: Kádas Gambit (3… cxd4 4. c3) A00 · 1. h4 d5 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. c3
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.