Vulture Defense

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Ne4

The Vulture Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A56, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Ne4. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 66 times by this move order. White won 35%, 10% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 4. Qc2 (41% of games).

Engine evaluation: +1.21 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. Qc2 Nf6 5. e4 d6 6. h3 g6)

ECO: A56
Moves: 6 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pp1ppppp/8/2pP4/2P1n3/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Ne4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	3	33%67%
1500-1999	27	19%14%67%
2000+	36	47%44%
All	66	35%55%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
4. Qc2	27 (41%)	48%44%
4. f3	18 (27%)	28%61%
4. Nd2	6 (9%)	17%83%
4. Nf3	5 (8%)	20%80%
4. Qd3	3 (5%)	33%34%33%
4. Nc3	2 (3%)	100%
4. g3	2 (3%)	100%
4. Be3	1 (2%)	100%

Master games

120 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 13%, Black 33%). The strongest:

GM Volodar Murzin (2664) – IM Sim Maerevoet (2418) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Early · 2024-11-19
FM Tarun Kanyamarala (2369) – GM Luke J McShane (2674) 0-1 · Bunratty 2021 Online · 2021-02-20
GM Boris Chatalbashev (2552) – FM Stefan Buecker (2342) 1-0 · Chess Classic ELO Open 2013 · 2013-02-13
FM Renato R. Quintiliano (2422) – GM Jose Cubas (2455) 1-0 · VIII Hebraica GM 2015 · 2015-06-09
IM Meri Arabidze (2447) – FM Karl Bowden (2348) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Mar Early · 2025-03-18

Search all games of the Vulture Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Mitichkin_Ivan (2553) – Karlskoga (2527) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
grigoli2008 (2393) – Ania_Andrzejewska (2376) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Achanich (2370) – Ania_Andrzejewska (2388) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Benoni Defense (2. c4 c5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5

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.