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Réti Opening (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4)
How do Réti Opening games actually end? Across 6,918 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4, White won 56.5%, 4.4% were drawn and Black won 39.1%. Below: the main line move by move, the most played continuations (the favorite is 2...dxc4), the rating effect and the opening's history.
The main line, move by move
| Move | Position name | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Nf3 | Zukertort Opening | 87,915 | 51.8% | 4.8% | 43.4% |
| 1...d5 | Zukertort Opening | 30,722 | 51.9% | 4.8% | 43.3% |
| 2.c4 | Réti Opening | 6,918 | 56.5% | 4.4% | 39.1% |
| 2...dxc4 | Réti Opening: Réti Accepted | 1,827 | 60.9% | 4.2% | 35.0% |
| 3.e3 | - | 582 | 60.8% | 5.3% | 33.8% |
| 3...b5 | - | 155 | 66.5% | 3.9% | 29.7% |
The 5 most common continuations (for Black)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2...dxc4 | Réti Opening: Réti Accepted | 1,827 | 60.9% | 4.2% | 35.0% |
| 2...d4 | - | 1,533 | 56.0% | 3.3% | 40.7% |
| 2...c6 | - | 1,494 | 52.2% | 5.0% | 42.8% |
| 2...e6 | - | 1,072 | 53.8% | 5.3% | 40.9% |
| 2...Nf6 | - | 672 | 57.9% | 5.8% | 36.3% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 3,155 | 56.7% | 4.2% | 39.1% |
| 2200-2499 | 277 | 57.4% | 6.5% | 36.1% |
The story of the opening
Richard Réti was the poster boy of hypermodernism, and his opening is the manifesto in the form of a move: 1.Nf3 does not occupy the center, it watches it, preparing c4 and a fianchetto to attack from afar what the classics ordered players to occupy. The idea was equal parts philosophy and chess, and it needed a showcase to match.
The showcase came at New York 1924: Réti defeated José Raúl Capablanca, ending the world champion's eight year unbeaten run, with the opening that now bears his name. A century later 1.Nf3 battles 1.c4 for the spot of third most played first move on the planet, and it is the favorite of players who treat the opening as a game of move orders: from the Réti you can reach almost anything, and almost nothing reaches you without paying its toll.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: Sicilian Defense and French Defense. Nerd aside: chess notation is a 64 square code, cousin to the ones living next door, like binary and Morse.
Source: the Lichess open game database (database.lichess.org, CC0 data), months 2014-06, 2015-01, 2016-01, snapshot of 2026-07-09: blitz, rapid and classical games with the players' average rating between 1600 and 2199, aggregated by move sequence. Variation names and ECO codes: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).
Last updated: · Methodology and sources