Polish Opening
1. b4
The Polish Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. b4. Black is to move. 16 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 58,348 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 1… e5 2. Bb2 Bxb4 3. Bxe5 Nf6 4. c3)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/1P6/8/P1PPPPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 20,593 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32,697 | |
| 2000+ | 5,058 | |
| All | 58,348 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 | 22,614 (39%) | |
| 1… d5 Polish Opening, with d5 (1. b4 d5) | 12,453 (21%) | |
| 1… Nf6 | 5,645 (10%) | |
| 1… e6 | 5,329 (9%) | |
| 1… c6 Outflank Variation | 2,384 (4%) | |
| 1… g6 | 2,354 (4%) | |
| 1… d6 | 1,635 (3%) | |
| 1… b6 | 1,328 (2%) |
Master games
2,564 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Anish Giri (2780) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup Prelim · 2021-05-24
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021 · 2021-05-27
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) – GM Anish Giri (2782) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) – GM Gukesh D (2767) 1-0 · Checkmate: USA vs India · 2025-10-04
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2785) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2764) 0-1 · 11th Norway Blitz 2023 · 2023-05-29
Search all games of the Polish Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fraysinator (2701) – GM Fabsid (2793) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Nut5105 (2719) – Vahe_S (2746) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Fraysinator (2721) – KhatanbaatarGM (2726) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Polish Opening, with d5 (1. b4 d5) A00 · 1. b4 d5
- Polish Opening: Birmingham Gambit A00 · 1. b4 c5
- Polish Opening: Dutch Defense A00 · 1. b4 f5
- Polish Opening: Grigorian Variation A00 · 1. b4 Nc6
- Polish Opening: Karniewski Variation A00 · 1. b4 Nh6
- Polish Opening: Outflank Variation A00 · 1. b4 c6
- Polish Opening: Symmetrical Variation A00 · 1. b4 b5
- Polish Opening: Bugayev Attack A00 · 1. b4 e5 2. a3
- Polish Opening: Czech Defense A00 · 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 d6
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation A00 · 1. b4 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6
- Polish Opening: Wolferts Gambit A00 · 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 c5
- Polish Opening: Bugayev Advance Variation A00 · 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 f6 3. b5
- Polish Opening: Tartakower Gambit A00 · 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 f6 3. e4
- Polish Opening: Queen's Indian Variation A00 · 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 b6
- Polish Opening: Queenside Defense A00 · 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 a6
- Polish Opening: Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation A00 · 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. b5 d5 4. e3
More Polish Opening lines (all)
- Polish Opening: Baltic Defense A00
- Polish Opening: German Defense A00
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation, Schiffler Attack A00
- Polish Opening: King's Indian Variation, Sokolsky Attack A00
- Polish Opening: Myers Variation A00
- Polish Opening: Outflank Variation, Schuehler Gambit A00
- Polish Opening: Rooks Swap Line A00
- Polish Opening: Schuehler Gambit A00
- Polish Opening: Zukertort System A05
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.