Scandinavian Defense: Richter Variation (4. Nf3 g6)
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 g6
The Scandinavian Defense: Richter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 g6. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 382 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5. c4 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.80 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. c4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. h3 O-O)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pp1p/6p1/3n4/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 188 | |
| 2000+ | 181 | |
| All | 382 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. c4 | 156 (41%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 81 (21%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 57 (15%) | |
| 5. h3 | 23 (6%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 22 (6%) | |
| 5. c3 | 18 (5%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 11 (3%) | |
| 5. g3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
428 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 20%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Ethereal14.40 (3618) – PlentyChess6.0.14 (3588) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- PlentyChess6.0.14 (3588) – Ethereal14.40 (3618) 1-0 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3491) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3491) – Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- GM Hao Wang (2739) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2718) 0-1 · 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Rapid · 2012-07-07
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Richter Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- apollothedog (2691) – Ariel_mlr (2552) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Nietzsche420 (2501) – GM sillyMASTER (2706) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- onthewaygm (2599) – DueBidoni (2539) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Marshall Variation 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Boehnke Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation B01
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.