Wade Defense

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Bg4

The Wade Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A41, reached after 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Bg4. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 908 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. e3 (21% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.86 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 3. e4 g6 4. Nbd2 Bg7 5. h3 Bc8)

ECO: A41
Moves: 4 plies
FEN: rn1qkbnr/ppp1pppp/3p4/8/3P2b1/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 3
PGN: 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Bg4

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	259	51%45%
1500-1999	330	55%40%
2000+	319	43%50%
All	908	50%45%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3. e3	192 (21%)	50%46%
3. Bf4	139 (15%)	51%42%
3. Nbd2	117 (13%)	47%47%
3. c4	108 (12%)	47%45%
3. e4	89 (10%)	39%51%
3. h3	63 (7%)	56%40%
3. Nc3	53 (6%)	60%40%
3. g3	47 (5%)	40%53%

Master games

2,239 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 24%, Black 38%). The strongest:

Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-30
Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-30
Berserk 20250622 (3667) – PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-21
PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) – Berserk 20250622 (3667) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-18
LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-27

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

FM iustin104 (2612) – gmcyborek (2761) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
AeroTraining (2646) – IM Chigorinez (2724) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
FM kirill_kopyonkin (2652) – IM Chigorinez (2704) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) 1. d4 d6

Continuations

Zukertort Opening: Wade Defense, Chigorin Plan A41 · 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Bg4 3. c4 Nd7 4. Qb3 Rb8

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.