Zaire Defense
1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8
The Zaire Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8 times by this move order. White won 63%, 12% were drawn and Black won 25%. The most popular continuation is 5. f4 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.41 (Stockfish, depth 29; best line 5. Nc3 g6 6. h4 Bg7 7. Nf3 d6)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/3PP3/8/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. f4 | 3 (38%) | |
| 5. c4 | 2 (25%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 1 (13%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 1 (13%) | |
| 5. d6 | 1 (13%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Boutcher (2302) – Veryweakplayer2024 (2303) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Scazparov (2072) – Ijnacio (2103) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Braverook3 (1870) – Alb1985 (1982) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
Montevideo Defense 1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8
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.