Modern Defense: Kotov Variation
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nc6
The Modern Defense: Kotov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A42, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nc6. It is a line of the Modern Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 894 times by this move order. White won 44%, 5% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 5. Be3 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.82 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5. d5 Nb8 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. h3 O-O)
- ECO
- A42
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppp1ppbp/2np2p1/8/2PPP3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 47 | |
| 1500-1999 | 422 | |
| 2000+ | 425 | |
| All | 894 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Be3 | 411 (46%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 261 (29%) | |
| 5. d5 | 107 (12%) | |
| 5. Nge2 | 42 (5%) | |
| 5. f3 | 23 (3%) | |
| 5. f4 | 15 (2%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 14 (2%) | |
| 5. h3 | 11 (1%) |
Master games
620 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 19%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) – ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-27
- ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) – Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-25
- LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-28
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-25
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2779) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2018 · 2018-10-11
Search all games of the Modern Defense: Kotov Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheEssssjuuus (2590) – IM Aphelios00 (2736) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- slabakNo1 (2711) – qdad (2556) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Kesha05 (2615) – qdad (2552) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Modern Defense: Averbakh System 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4
More Modern Defense lines (all)
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Polish Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation A04
- Modern Defense: Semi-Averbakh Variation, Pterodactyl Variation Accepted A04
- Modern Defense: Beefeater Variation A40
- Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit A40
- Modern Defense (3. Nc3 d6) A41
- Modern Defense: Neo-Modern Defense A41
- Modern Defense: Averbakh Variation, Pseudo-Sämisch A42
- Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation A42
- Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) B06
- Modern Defense (2. d4 Bg7) B06
- Modern Defense: Anti-Modern B06
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.