Zukertort Opening: The Potato
1. Nf3 d5 2. a4
The Zukertort Opening: The Potato is a chess opening classified as ECO A06, reached after 1. Nf3 d5 2. a4. 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 63 times by this move order. White won 56%, 0% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nc6 (24% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.12 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 2… c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. d4 Bg4 5. Be2)
- ECO
- A06
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/P7/5N2/1PPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. Nf3 d5 2. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 23 | |
| 1500-1999 | 35 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 63 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nc6 | 15 (24%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 12 (19%) | |
| 2… c5 | 9 (14%) | |
| 2… Bg4 | 6 (10%) | |
| 2… Bf5 | 5 (8%) | |
| 2… a5 | 4 (6%) | |
| 2… e6 | 4 (6%) | |
| 2… c6 | 3 (5%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 10%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Boris Savchenko (2552) – GM Zaven Andriasian (2581) 1-0 · Titled Arena Apr 3rd 2021 · 2021-04-03
- FM Noam Aviv Vitenberg (2320) – FM Harold Wanyama (2312) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 22nd Dec · 2020-12-22
- FM Tobias Koelle (2312) – FM Evgeny V. Melikhov (2292) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 13th July · 2021-07-13
- IM Harry Grieve (2449) – WFM Elena Pershina (2114) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 8th Aug Early · 2023-08-08
- WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (2215) – FM John Curtis (2292) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Oct Late · 2023-10-10
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: The Potato and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Catinlove (2679) – FM enclasesUNI (2641) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Catinlove (2670) – FM enclasesUNI (2650) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Catinlove (2680) – FM enclasesUNI (2639) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 d5) 1. Nf3 d5
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: 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
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.