Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit
1. d4 g6 2. h4 Nf6 3. h5
The Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. h4 Nf6 3. h5. It is a line of the Modern Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17 times by this move order. White won 41%, 6% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nxh5 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.23 (Stockfish, depth 31; best line 3… Nxh5 4. e4 d5 5. g4 Ng7 6. Nc3)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/7P/3P4/8/PPP1PPP1/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 g6 2. h4 Nf6 3. h5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 17 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nxh5 | 14 (82%) | |
| 3… b6 | 1 (6%) | |
| 3… gxh5 | 1 (6%) | |
| 3… Bg7 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 10%, Black 58%). The strongest:
- GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2703) – GM Yahli Sokolovsky (2522) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Aug Early · 2024-08-06
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Aug Late · 2025-08-26
- Zviad Sichinava (2298) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2686) 1/2-1/2 · St.Petersburg Rapid 2016 · 2016-08-28
- GM Aryan Tari (2653) – Dmitriy Kushko (2302) 1-0 · Titled Tue 8th Mar Early · 2022-03-08
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – IM Dmitriy Kushko (2445) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd Jan Early · 2024-01-23
Search all games of the Modern Defense: Lizard Defense, Pirc-Diemer Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- VladimirTambov (2426) – Neftegor (2496) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Number456 (2477) – AlittleTooStrong (2321) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Artful-dodger (2379) – mariolino002 (2371) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense 1. d4 g6
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 (3. Nc3 d6) A41
- Modern Defense: Neo-Modern Defense A41
- Modern Defense: Averbakh System A42
- Modern Defense: Averbakh Variation, Pseudo-Sämisch A42
- Modern Defense: Kotov Variation A42
- Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation A42
- Modern Defense (1. e4 g6) B06
- Modern Defense (2. d4 Bg7) 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.