Zukertort Opening: Polish Defense
1. Nf3 b5
The Zukertort Opening: Polish Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 b5. 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 631 times by this move order. White won 54%, 6% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 2. g3 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 2. d4 Bb7 3. e4 Bxe4 4. Bxb5 e6)
- ECO
- A04
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/p1pppppp/8/1p6/8/5N2/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. Nf3 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 215 | |
| 1500-1999 | 205 | |
| 2000+ | 211 | |
| All | 631 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. g3 | 165 (26%) | |
| 2. e4 | 154 (24%) | |
| 2. d4 | 125 (20%) | |
| 2. e3 | 54 (9%) | |
| 2. Nc3 | 36 (6%) | |
| 2. b3 | 23 (4%) | |
| 2. c4 | 14 (2%) | |
| 2. d3 | 12 (2%) |
Master games
618 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 17%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2815) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2017-11-18
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 8th Aug Early · 2023-08-08
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Early · 2023-03-21
- GM Gukesh D (2732) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) 1-0 · GCT Super Blitz Poland · 2026-05-08
- GM Rasmus Svane (2637) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Jan Early · 2024-01-16
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Polish Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- machee (2704) – BilBog123 (2654) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Rookz77 (2652) – Fools_For_Luck (2635) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Catinlove (2655) – GM Atomrod (2601) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) 1. Nf3
More Zukertort Opening lines (all)
- 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: 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: 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.