Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 f5
The Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A42, reached after 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 f5. 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 39 times by this move order. White won 33%, 11% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 5. exf5 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.92 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5. exf5 Bxf5 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Be2 O-O)
- ECO
- A42
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/ppp1p1bp/3p2p1/5p2/2PPP3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 39 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. exf5 | 13 (33%) | |
| 5. f3 | 8 (21%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 7 (18%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 5 (13%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 3 (8%) | |
| 5. b3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 5. d5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 5. h3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 75%, draw 25%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- Berserk13 (3540) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-25
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – Berserk13 (3540) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-22
- Alexander Wiesner (1897) – Arkadij Slonimskij (2160) 1-0 · 28th Czech Open B 2017 · 2017-07-21
- Ian Gao (2037) – Richard C P Freeman (2016) 1-0 · 4NCL Online S3 Div2 2021 · 2021-04-20
Search all games of the Modern Defense: Randspringer Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Gazi_SalahUddin (2187) – laufer23 (2225) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- gutoledo (2138) – laufer23 (2242) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Robinkill12 (2081) – chinchillerchiller (2092) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 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: Kotov 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.