Ware Opening: Crab Variation
1. a4 e5 2. h4
The Ware Opening: Crab Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. a4 e5 2. h4. It is a line of the Ware Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 457 times by this move order. White won 45%, 4% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 2… d5 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.05 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 2… Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. d4 Nf6 5. dxe5)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/P6P/8/1PPPPPP1/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. a4 e5 2. h4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 362 | |
| 1500-1999 | 87 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 457 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… d5 | 237 (52%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 48 (11%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 46 (10%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 43 (9%) | |
| 2… d6 | 18 (4%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 16 (4%) | |
| 2… Be7 | 7 (2%) | |
| 2… e4 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
20 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 5%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2685) – FM Vidar Grahn (2264) 1-0 · Chess.com Speed Play-In · 2024-06-27
- GM Emin Ohanyan (2481) – IM Eric Rosen (2377) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 30th Apr 2026 · 2026-04-30
- FM Maksim Omariev (2304) – FM Teimur Toktomushev (2407) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Feb Early · 2025-02-11
- IM Damian Lewtak (2386) – CM Leo Crevatin (2312) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Late · 2022-09-13
- IM Rout Padmini (2339) – FM Deniman Mamani Beltran (2336) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Dec Early · 2024-12-24
Search all games of the Ware Opening: Crab Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Leo77sparky (2554) – Joppe (2377) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Gkang (2159) – BalivernesS (2160) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- omar_xong (2168) – LaoTse43 (2142) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ware Opening 1. a4
More Ware Opening lines (all)
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.