Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense, Drunken Knight Variation
1. Nf3 f6 2. e4 Nh6 3. d4 Nf7
The Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense, Drunken Knight Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 f6 2. e4 Nh6 3. d4 Nf7. It is a line of the Zukertort Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 4. g3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.97 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4. a3 c6 5. h4 Na6 6. h5 Nc7)
- ECO
- A04
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppnpp/5p2/8/3PP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. Nf3 f6 2. e4 Nh6 3. d4 Nf7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. g3 | 1 (50%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 1 (50%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- GM Jose Rafael Gascon Del Nogal (2459) – FM Andriy Prydun (2134) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Mar Late · 2023-03-07
Highest-rated Lichess games
- chandra2 (1211) – cami2221 (1276) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- awppenhe1mer (1146) – dirty_shmelt98 (1162) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense 1. Nf3 f6
More Zukertort Opening lines (all)
- Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) A04
- Zukertort Opening: Basman Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Drunken Cavalry Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Dutch Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Herrstrom Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Kingside Fianchetto A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred A04
- Zukertort Opening: Pirc Invitation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Polish Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Queen's Gambit Invitation A04
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.