Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense

1. Nf3 Nc6

Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense after 1. Nf3 Nc6 87654321abcdefgh

The Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 Nc6. 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 34,514 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (36% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 2. d4 d5 3. c4 e6 4. e3 Nf6)

ECO
A04
Moves
2 plies
FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/8/5N2/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 2
PGN
1. Nf3 Nc6

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

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-149916,11549%47%
1500-199915,65351%44%
2000+2,74652%42%
All34,51450%45%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2. d412,445 (36%)54%41%
2. g36,017 (17%)49%46%
2. e45,635 (16%)48%48%
2. c42,985 (9%)50%45%
2. Nc32,616 (8%)45%50%
2. e31,443 (4%)50%45%
2. d31,159 (3%)48%48%
2. b3951 (3%)50%45%

Master games

3,008 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 14%, Black 31%). The strongest:

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) 1. Nf3

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.