Magnus Carlsen in the Dutch Defense

45 games of Magnus Carlsen in the Dutch Defense, 2001 to 2025: 31 wins, 9 draws, 5 losses. Every game can be replayed move by move.

Quick answer · Updated October 2026

Does Magnus Carlsen play the Dutch Defense?

Yes. Magnus Carlsen has played the Dutch Defense in 45 games in our database (2001–2025): 31 wins, 9 draws and 5 losses, a score of 78.9%. He had it 9 times with White (6–2–1) and 36 times with Black (25–7–4).

Type of event	Games	Carlsen won	Drawn	Opponent won	Carlsen score
Classical	7	5	2	0	85.7%
Rapid	6	4	2	0	83.3%
Blitz and bullet	29	21	5	3	81.0%
Other events	3	1	0	2	33.3%
All games	45	31	9	5	78.9%

First game in our databaseMagnus Carlsen vs Kyrre Indrebo · ECC · 27 September 2001 · 1-0

Latest gameChithambaram VR. Aravindh vs Magnus Carlsen · 1st 3-0 Thu 11th Dec 2025 · 11 December 2025 · 0-1

Classical games7: 5–2–0 (won–drawn–lost)

His most played move order1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6 (3 games)

Busiest year2025, with 15 games

Replay all 45 games Magnus Carlsen profile All Magnus openings

Source: the Rama Chess database of 7,484 Magnus Carlsen games, 2001 to 2025 (many of his games, not all of them). Opening names follow the ECO code of each game. The type of event is read from the event name.

The opening

The Dutch Defense: the starting moves

Dutch Defense chess opening position after 1.d4 f5, board diagram — The Dutch Defense starts with **1.d4 f5**.

In his own games the line he reached most often is **1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6** (3 games).

Best wins

Magnus Carlsen's Dutch Defense wins against top players

Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen, 0-13rd GRENKE Chess Classic · 6 February 2015 · Classical · 36 moves
Fabiano Caruana vs Magnus Carlsen, 0-1Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015 · 19 April 2015 · Classical · 52 moves
Alexey Sarana vs Magnus Carlsen, 0-1Titled Tue 22nd Apr Late · 22 April 2025 · Blitz and bullet · 64 moves
Magnus Carlsen vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 1-0Chess.com Classic Winners · 20 May 2025 · Rapid · 26 moves
Hans Niemann vs Magnus Carlsen, 0-1Charity Cup KO 2022 · 23 March 2022 · Rapid · 95 moves
Sergey Karjakin vs Magnus Carlsen, 0-15th Norway Blitz 2017 · 5 June 2017 · Blitz and bullet · 33 moves

Results by year

The Dutch Defense by year (2001–2025)

Carlsen wonDrawnOpponent won

Record · Updated October 2026

Magnus Carlsen's record in the Dutch Defense

The Rama Chess archive holds 45 games in which Magnus Carlsen played the Dutch Defense, from 2001 to 2025. He won 31, drew 9 and lost 5, a score of 78.9%. The games come from all time controls (classical, rapid and blitz).

He has had this opening on the board mostly with Black: 9 games as White (6 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss) and 36 games as Black (25 wins, 7 draws, 4 losses).

His most frequent opponents here are Levon Aronian (2), Wesley So (2), R Terry (2). The earliest game is from 2001 (ECC) and the most recent from 2025 (Titled Tue 8th Apr Late). The ECO code seen most often is A80.

Replay the games Magnus Carlsen profile All his openings Learn openings

By colour

With White and with Black

Carlsen played	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Score
White	9	6	2	1	78%
Black	36	25	7	4	79%
All games	45	31	9	5	79%

Year by year

Dutch Defense games by year

Year	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Score
2001	1	1	0	0	100%
2002	1	0	1	0	50%
2003	2	1	0	1	50%
2007	2	1	0	1	50%
2009	1	1	0	0	100%
2012	1	0	0	1	0%
2013	1	0	1	0	50%
2015	6	5	0	1	83%
2016	2	0	2	0	50%
2017	3	3	0	0	100%
2018	1	0	1	0	50%
2019	2	0	1	1	25%
2021	1	0	1	0	50%
2022	1	1	0	0	100%
2023	4	3	1	0	88%
2024	1	1	0	0	100%
2025	15	14	1	0	97%