Rat Defense: Small Center Defense
1. d4 e6 2. e4 d6
The Rat Defense: Small Center Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C00, reached after 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d6. 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 3,262 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.68 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O)
- ECO
- C00
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3pp3/8/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 e6 2. e4 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,732 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,417 | |
| 2000+ | 113 | |
| All | 3,262 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 915 (28%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 688 (21%) | |
| 3. c4 | 477 (15%) | |
| 3. f4 | 333 (10%) | |
| 3. Bd3 | 207 (6%) | |
| 3. d5 | 135 (4%) | |
| 3. c3 | 70 (2%) | |
| 3. e5 | 66 (2%) |
Master games
21 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 4%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Bilel Bellahcene (2517) – GM David Larino Nieto (2461) 1/2-1/2 · Cappelle Online Bullet · 2021-03-05
- GM Vugar Rasulov (2453) – GM David Larino Nieto (2440) 1-0 · 2nd Gran Canaria Online · 2022-02-27
- FM Yinn Long Wong (2381) – GM David Larino Nieto (2461) 1-0 · Gran Canaria Online Blitz · 2021-02-16
- IM Jean Hebert (2378) – FM Alain Spielmann (2181) 1-0 · 26th Cannes Summer Open · 2014-07-13
- FM Arthur Shen (2338) – WIM Prathiba Y. Gounder (2194) 1-0 · 42nd World Open 2014 · 2014-07-05
Search all games of the Rat Defense: Small Center Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Elmarmalade (2576) – REMBO647 (2463) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- Lauris_Laimins (2509) – redtom (2460) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- CM Kavaliro (2458) – redtom (2494) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Horwitz Defense 1. d4 e6
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: Balogh Defense A82
- 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
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.