Queen's Pawn Modern Defense: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense · 1.d4 g6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 49.4% in 21,691 Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense games (±0.7; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 47.6% of them, White won 48.8%, and 3.5% were drawn.

No clear difference from 50% at this level (inside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 49.4% (±0.7) with the Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (21,691 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

1.4%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense · 19,228 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.6%. At 1800–2099: 1.4%. 2.3× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.d4 g6. 69,571 games in this sample reached it.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 49.4% (Under 1200) to 51.6% (1800–2099).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 2100+ group (1.6% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (5.2%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12005,161 gamesCompared with

White wins 47.8% · draws 3.2% · Black wins 49.0% · White's score 49.4% ±1.3 · how common 0.6%
1200–149912,720 games

White wins 48.6% · draws 3.0% · Black wins 48.3% · White's score 50.2% ±0.9 · how common 1.1%
1500–179921,691 games

White wins 48.8% · draws 3.5% · Black wins 47.6% · White's score 50.6% ±0.7 · how common 1.4%
1800–209919,228 gamesIn the headline

White wins 49.5% · draws 4.1% · Black wins 46.4% · White's score 51.6% ±0.7 · how common 1.4%
2100+10,771 games

White wins 47.8% · draws 5.2% · Black wins 47.0% · White's score 50.4% ±0.9 · how common 1.6%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	32,912	48.7%	3.0%	48.2%	50.2%
Blitz	29,736	48.6%	4.5%	46.9%	50.9%
Rapid	6,736	49.2%	4.8%	46.1%	51.6%
Classical	187	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.d4 g6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2.Bf4 ·22.3% · 1,149 · 50.2% ±2.8 2.e4 ·19.7% · 1,012 · 49.9% ±3.0 2.c4 ·16.5% · 847 · 49.7% ±3.3
1200–1499	2.c4 ·24.9% · 3,161 · 50.7% ±1.7 2.Bf4 ·22.2% · 2,816 · 50.6% ±1.8 2.e4 ·15.2% · 1,929 · 49.3% ±2.2
1500–1799	2.c4 ·31.5% · 6,834 · 50.6% ±1.2 2.Bf4 ·18.1% · 3,913 · 50.0% ±1.5 2.Nf3 ·15.4% · 3,328 · 50.0% ±1.7
1800–2099	2.c4 ·36.5% · 7,003 · 51.3% ±1.1 2.Nf3 ·17.7% · 3,402 · 52.1% ±1.6 2.Bf4 ·13.7% · 2,635 · 49.8% ±1.9
2100+	2.c4 ·35.5% · 3,824 · 51.2% ±1.5 2.Nf3 ·23.2% · 2,501 · 48.9% ±1.9 2.e4 ·9.4% · 1,008 · 53.3% ±3.0

Up next: related positions with a page

Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 (Queen's Gambit Declined)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 (Slav Defense)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6	1500–1799	61,882	48.5% ±0.4
vs Horwitz Defense 1.d4 e6	1500–1799	41,735	46.9% ±0.5
vs Englund Gambit 1.d4 e5	1500–1799	31,566	49.9% ±0.5
vs Benoni Defense: Old Benoni 1.d4 c5	1500–1799	16,122	49.4% ±0.8

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Download these numbers: Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.