Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3)
1. Nf3
The Zukertort Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A04, reached after 1. Nf3. Black is to move. 20 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 390,107 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 1… d5 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 1… Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3)
- ECO
- A04
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/5N2/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 1- PGN
1. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 124,331 | |
| 1500-1999 | 176,638 | |
| 2000+ | 89,138 | |
| All | 390,107 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… d5 Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 d5) | 139,959 (36%) | |
| 1… Nf6 Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 Nf6) | 57,686 (15%) | |
| 1… Nc6 Black Mustang Defense | 34,514 (9%) | |
| 1… c5 Sicilian Invitation | 33,618 (9%) | |
| 1… e6 Queen's Gambit Invitation | 31,284 (8%) | |
| 1… d6 Pirc Invitation | 21,458 (6%) | |
| 1… c6 Slav Invitation | 17,468 (4%) | |
| 1… g6 Kingside Fianchetto | 15,824 (4%) |
Master games
918 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 91%, draw 2%, Black 7%). The strongest:
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2745) – GM Pavel Eljanov (2659) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Mar 2026 · 2026-03-17
- GM Yi Wei (2722) – GM Vladimir Malakhov (2650) 1-0 · Chessable Masters Play-In · 2023-03-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – IM Rudik Makarian (2546) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess Q2Sw · 2023-08-23
- GM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2563) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2763) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Oct Late · 2022-10-25
- GM Gleb Dudin (2573) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2725) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-25
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Guary1 (2898) – GM cutemouse83 (2944) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- KnightCheckShadow (2993) – Drogono (2847) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2902) – GM cutemouse83 (2939) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 Nf6) A05 · 1. Nf3 Nf6
- Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3 d5) A06 · 1. Nf3 d5
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 f6
- Zukertort Opening: Basman Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 h6
- Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 Nc6
- Zukertort Opening: Dutch Variation A04 · 1. Nf3 f5
- Zukertort Opening: Herrstrom Gambit A04 · 1. Nf3 g5
- Zukertort Opening: Kingside Fianchetto A04 · 1. Nf3 g6
- Zukertort Opening: Pirc Invitation A04 · 1. Nf3 d6
- Zukertort Opening: Polish Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 b5
- Zukertort Opening: Queen's Gambit Invitation A04 · 1. Nf3 e6
- Zukertort Opening: Queenside Fianchetto Variation A04 · 1. Nf3 b6
- Zukertort Opening: Ross Gambit A04 · 1. Nf3 e5
- Zukertort Opening: Sicilian Invitation A04 · 1. Nf3 c5
- Zukertort Opening: Slav Invitation A04 · 1. Nf3 c6
- Zukertort Opening: St. George Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 a6
- Zukertort Opening: Ware Defense A04 · 1. Nf3 a5
- Zukertort Defense: Kingside Variation A04 · 1. Nf3 Nh6 2. d4 g6
- Zukertort Defense: Sicilian Knight Variation A04 · 1. Nf3 Na6 2. e4 c5
- Zukertort Opening: Drunken Cavalry Variation A04 · 1. Nf3 Na6 2. e4 Nh6
More Zukertort Opening lines (all)
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense, Drunken Knight Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred A04
- Zukertort Opening: Shabalov Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Speelsmet Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: The Walrus A04
- Zukertort Opening: Vos Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Wade Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening (2. Nc3 Nc6) A05
- Zukertort Opening: Double Fianchetto Attack A05
- Zukertort Opening: Lemberger Gambit A05
- Zukertort Opening: Myers Polish Attack A05
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.