Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred
1. Nf3 f5 2. d3 Nf6 3. e4
The Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 f5 2. d3 Nf6 3. e4. It is a line of the Zukertort Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 143 times by this move order. White won 60%, 6% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 3… fxe4 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… fxe4 4. dxe4 Nxe4 5. Bd3 d5 6. Ng5)
- ECO
- A04
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppppp1pp/5n2/5p2/4P3/3P1N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. Nf3 f5 2. d3 Nf6 3. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 52 | |
| 2000+ | 85 | |
| All | 143 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… fxe4 | 85 (59%) | |
| 3… d6 | 26 (18%) | |
| 3… e6 | 17 (12%) | |
| 3… e5 | 7 (5%) | |
| 3… d5 | 4 (3%) | |
| 3… g6 | 2 (1%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 3… f4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
456 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 61%, draw 15%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2766) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2765) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Rapid Paris 2019 · 2019-07-27
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2749) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 1-0 · Champions Showdown Blitz · 2019-02-23
- GM Liren Ding (2777) – GM Zhong Zhang (2634) 1-0 · TCh-CHN 2016 · 2016-09-23
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) – GM Andres Rodriguez Vila (2437) 1-0 · Uva Four player KO 2014 · 2014-03-07
- GM Nijat Abasov (2632) – GM Maxime Lagarde (2657) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup · 2020-01-06
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- lky1923CHN (2605) – Plyasa1984 (2504) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2531) – IM German308 (2578) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Johantex (2535) – IM Angelicanmade (2533) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Zukertort Opening: Dutch Variation 1. Nf3 f5
More Zukertort Opening lines (all)
- Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) A04
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense, Drunken Knight Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Basman Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Drunken Cavalry Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Herrstrom Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Kingside Fianchetto A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit 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.