Valencia Opening
1. d3 e5 2. Nd2
The Valencia Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. d3 e5 2. Nd2. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 685 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.20 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 2… d5 3. e4 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. Be2)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/8/3P4/PPPNPPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. d3 e5 2. Nd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 222 | |
| 1500-1999 | 333 | |
| 2000+ | 130 | |
| All | 685 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 353 (52%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 99 (14%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 83 (12%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 43 (6%) | |
| 2… d6 | 42 (6%) | |
| 2… f5 | 30 (4%) | |
| 2… Bb4 | 10 (1%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 7 (1%) |
Master games
40 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 12%, Black 53%). The strongest:
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2738) – FM Jose Barria (2428) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Early · 2024-01-09
- FM Bojan Maksimovic (2398) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2598) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 1st Sept · 2020-09-01
- GM Denis Kadric (2515) – Himal Gusain (2461) 1/2-1/2 · 26th Kavala Open 2017 · 2017-08-01
- FM Juan Pablo Castro Lombana (2238) – GM Dmitrij Kollars (2623) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 3rd Sep 2026 · 2026-09-03
- IM Simon Lamaze (2458) – FM Francesco Bettalli (2368) 1-0 · Titled Tue 3rd Sep Early · 2024-09-03
Search all games of the Valencia Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- speedcuber12 (2481) – harrynga25 (2540) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Eekamouse (2301) – FM HundimBuero (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- alsol-schach (2313) – CM Mistheoretical (2385) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Mieses Opening: Reversed Rat 1. d3 e5
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.