Queen's Pawn Zukertort Variation: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation · 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 52.9% in 35,275 Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation games (±0.5; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 50.8% of them, Black won 45.1%, and 4.1% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 52.9% (±0.5) with the Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (35,275 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

2.4%

of rated games at Lichess rating 2100+ reached the Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation · 16,831 of 689,970 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 2.1%. At 2100+: 2.4%. 1.2× as common at 2100+ as under 1200.

Position after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3. 125,953 games in this sample reached it — 20,846 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 52.6% (Under 1200) to 54.0% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 2100+ group (2.4% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.6%).

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: Zukertort Variation 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: Zukertort Variation — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120017,266 gamesCompared with

White wins 50.8% · draws 3.6% · Black wins 45.6% · White's score 52.6% ±0.7 · how common 2.1%
1200–149926,069 games

White wins 51.1% · draws 3.3% · Black wins 45.5% · White's score 52.8% ±0.6 · how common 2.2%
1500–179935,275 games

White wins 50.8% · draws 4.1% · Black wins 45.1% · White's score 52.9% ±0.5 · how common 2.2%
1800–209930,512 games

White wins 51.0% · draws 5.0% · Black wins 44.0% · White's score 53.5% ±0.5 · how common 2.3%
2100+16,831 gamesIn the headline

White wins 50.7% · draws 6.6% · Black wins 42.7% · White's score 54.0% ±0.7 · how common 2.4%

"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: Zukertort Variation games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation — 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	43,529	51.8%	3.3%	44.9%	53.5%
Blitz	61,552	50.5%	4.9%	44.5%	53.0%
Rapid	20,068	50.1%	5.2%	44.7%	52.7%
Classical	804	50.9%	7.0%	42.2%	54.4%

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 Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black'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 d5 2.Nf3 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2...Nc6 ·36.5% · 6,291 · 47.0% ±1.2 2...Nf6 ·22.0% · 3,781 · 47.6% ±1.6 2...e6 ·13.2% · 2,267 · 47.9% ±2.0
1200–1499	2...Nc6 ·28.8% · 7,489 · 46.0% ±1.1 2...Nf6 ·23.8% · 6,190 · 47.5% ±1.2 2...e6 ·15.9% · 4,133 · 48.8% ±1.5
1500–1799	2...Nf6 ·29.1% · 10,243 · 48.0% ±0.9 2...Nc6 ·19.7% · 6,928 · 45.7% ±1.1 2...e6 ·17.7% · 6,254 · 46.2% ±1.2
1800–2099	2...Nf6 ·35.7% · 10,888 · 47.0% ±0.9 2...e6 ·17.4% · 5,309 · 46.2% ±1.3 2...Nc6 ·11.6% · 3,548 · 44.4% ±1.6
2100+	2...Nf6 ·44.4% · 7,474 · 46.7% ±1.1 2...c6 ·17.6% · 2,966 · 45.7% ±1.7 2...e6 ·17.3% · 2,908 · 44.6% ±1.7

Up next: related positions with a page

Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4 (Rapport-Jobava System)
Related line: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 (Indian Defense: Normal Variation)
Related line: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 (King's Indian Defense)

Other choices from the same position for White: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	White's score
vs Queen's Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4	1500–1799	64,150	53.8% ±0.4
vs London System 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4	1500–1799	36,039	52.4% ±0.5
vs Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.e4	1500–1799	9,067	53.5% ±1.0

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.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation to 1 deeper position on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nbd2 e6 5.b3: 61 games

Download these numbers: Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (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.