Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense

1. Nf3 f6

Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense after 1. Nf3 f6 87654321abcdefgh

The Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 f6. It is a line of the Zukertort Opening. 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 2,801 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (30% of games).

Engine evaluation: +1.05 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 2. e4 e6 3. d4 d5 4. Bd3 Nc6)

ECO
A04
Moves
2 plies
FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/5p2/8/8/5N2/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 2
PGN
1. Nf3 f6

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-14992,04753%43%
1500-199960851%41%
2000+14651%45%
All2,80152%43%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2. d4828 (30%)55%40%
2. e4613 (22%)53%43%
2. g3502 (18%)52%43%
2. Nc3289 (10%)49%45%
2. c4172 (6%)51%44%
2. e3118 (4%)45%53%
2. d380 (3%)45%49%
2. b371 (3%)59%32%

Master games

71 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 61%, draw 8%, Black 31%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) 1. Nf3

Continuations

More Zukertort 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.