Zukertort Opening: Slav Invitation
1. Nf3 c6
The Zukertort Opening: Slav Invitation is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3 c6. 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 17,468 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.34 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6)
- ECO
- A04
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2p5/8/8/5N2/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. Nf3 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,892 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8,786 | |
| 2000+ | 3,790 | |
| All | 17,468 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. d4 | 5,036 (29%) | |
| 2. g3 | 3,806 (22%) | |
| 2. e4 | 2,766 (16%) | |
| 2. c4 | 2,520 (14%) | |
| 2. Nc3 | 877 (5%) | |
| 2. b3 | 683 (4%) | |
| 2. e3 | 682 (4%) | |
| 2. d3 | 655 (4%) |
Master games
1,405 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 12%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2767) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Sep Early · 2024-09-17
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2745) – GM Veselin Topalov (2793) 1-0 · Norway Supreme Masters Blitz 2013 · 2013-05-07
- GM Hao Wang (2743) – GM Veselin Topalov (2793) 1-0 · Norway Supreme Masters Blitz 2013 · 2013-05-07
- GM Anish Giri (2745) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766) 1-0 · Superbet POL Blitz 2024 · 2024-05-12
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2704) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2776) 1-0 · Katara Bullet Final 2021 · 2021-06-23
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Slav Invitation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Guary1 (2789) – FleakyGorgoz (2875) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2798) – FleakyGorgoz (2864) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- sapphire_phoenix (2776) – Tempstream (2712) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 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: Polish Defense 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.