Rat Defense: Balogh Defense
1. e4 d6 2. d4 f5
The Rat Defense: Balogh Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A82, reached after 1. e4 d6 2. d4 f5. It is a line of the Rat Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,318 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.96 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bd3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nxe4)
- ECO
- A82
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1p1pp/3p4/5p2/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 d6 2. d4 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 506 | |
| 1500-1999 | 620 | |
| 2000+ | 192 | |
| All | 1,318 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 | 499 (38%) | |
| 3. exf5 | 333 (25%) | |
| 3. e5 | 149 (11%) | |
| 3. f3 | 132 (10%) | |
| 3. Bd3 | 130 (10%) | |
| 3. Qh5+ | 23 (2%) | |
| 3. Nd2 | 9 (1%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
61 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 9%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- IM Mykola Bortnyk (2442) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 21st Feb Late · 2023-02-21
- WGM Josefine Safarli (2336) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) 1-0 · PRO League Prelim 2023 · 2023-02-17
- GM Manuel Perez Candelario (2565) – Francois Brethes (2276) 1-0 · Lisbon Christmas Op 2014 · 2014-12-26
- IM Mikhael Garakov (2447) – IM Kirill Klukin (2390) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th May Late · 2023-05-30
- IM Koen Leenhouts (2447) – IM Kirill Klukin (2390) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd May Early · 2023-05-02
Search all games of the Rat Defense: Balogh Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Commonitorium (2628) – Kaissiber (2475) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Turlov (2521) – Kaissiber (2489) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Turlov (2557) – Kaissiber (2442) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Pirc Defense (1… d6 2. d4) 1. e4 d6 2. d4
More Rat Defense lines (all)
- Rat Defense: English Rat A41
- Rat Defense: English Rat, Lisbon Gambit A41
- Rat Defense: English Rat, Pounds Gambit A41
- Rat Defense: Antal Defense B00
- Rat Defense: Fuller Gambit B00
- Rat Defense: Harmonist B00
- Rat Defense: Petruccioli Attack B00
- Rat Defense: Spike Attack B00
- Rat Defense: Accelerated Gurgenidze B06
- Rat Defense: Small Center Defense C00
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.