Russian Game
38 variations · 13M games from Lichess · Updated January 2026
White expected score · Overall
51.9%
the worst score you would still get, 90% confident. Its best is the same figure — the band is too tight to plot.
Measured over 13M games at this level and clock.
Roughly even — the middlegame decides more than this opening choice does.
Outcomes for White
Draw 3.8 · Score = win + ½ of the draws · 13M games
- Rank among the families White can choose here
- not ranked — under 500 games here
- Games in this context
- 13M
- Best context
- 57.4% at 1000-1199 Classical
- Worst context
- 45.8% at 0-999 UltraBullet
- Variations measured
- 38
- Average game length
- 31 moves
Best and worst are the strongest and weakest squares with at least 500 games behind them. The table further down shows every square, including thinner ones.
What to play from here
White · Overall · limited dataNot enough games here yet to rank what comes next. Pick another rating or time control above.
These are the moves players actually choose from here, ranked by how they score. A higher score is a better bet on the numbers alone — familiarity and playstyle still matter.
Where it holds · White score by rating × clock
Green is clearly ahead for White, grey is around even, red is behind. Tap a cell to measure there, and again to clear. It gets better as the rating rises: 51.7% at 0-999, 56.4% at 2500+.
| Rating | UB | Bulle | Blitz | Rapid | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-999 | |||||
| 1000-1199 | |||||
| 1200-1399 | |||||
| 1400-1599 | |||||
| 1600-1799 | |||||
| 1800-1999 | |||||
| 2000-2199 | |||||
| 2200-2499 | |||||
| 2500+ |
Expected score matrix by rating bracket and time control
- 0-999 rating, UltraBullet: 45.8% expected score (1,735 games)
- 0-999 rating, Bullet: 51.2% expected score (282,084 games)
- 0-999 rating, Blitz: 53.1% expected score (667,902 games)
- 0-999 rating, Rapid: 54.0% expected score (436,304 games)
- 0-999 rating, Classical: 54.4% expected score (4,635 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, UltraBullet: 49.5% expected score (3,655 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Bullet: 51.4% expected score (435,658 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Blitz: 52.7% expected score (871,527 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Rapid: 54.9% expected score (429,211 games)
- 1000-1199 rating, Classical: 57.4% expected score (13,467 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, UltraBullet: 50.2% expected score (5,459 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Bullet: 51.0% expected score (554,242 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Blitz: 51.8% expected score (1,156,593 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Rapid: 53.7% expected score (484,366 games)
- 1200-1399 rating, Classical: 56.9% expected score (22,077 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, UltraBullet: 51.1% expected score (6,015 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Bullet: 50.8% expected score (598,646 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Blitz: 51.4% expected score (1,281,775 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Rapid: 52.1% expected score (543,781 games)
- 1400-1599 rating, Classical: 54.8% expected score (36,142 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, UltraBullet: 52.9% expected score (4,032 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Bullet: 50.7% expected score (553,167 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Blitz: 51.3% expected score (1,161,685 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Rapid: 52.0% expected score (452,697 games)
- 1600-1799 rating, Classical: 54.1% expected score (26,841 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, UltraBullet: 55.0% expected score (2,198 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Bullet: 50.7% expected score (408,463 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Blitz: 51.4% expected score (790,678 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Rapid: 52.0% expected score (273,680 games)
- 1800-1999 rating, Classical: 53.0% expected score (11,987 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, UltraBullet: 57.4% expected score (1,074 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Bullet: 50.4% expected score (247,411 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Blitz: 51.5% expected score (345,173 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Rapid: 53.0% expected score (96,578 games)
- 2000-2199 rating, Classical: 56.7% expected score (2,637 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, UltraBullet: 53.8% expected score (463 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Bullet: 51.1% expected score (134,259 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Blitz: 52.6% expected score (118,017 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Rapid: 54.8% expected score (21,060 games)
- 2200-2499 rating, Classical: 56.4% expected score (492 games)
- 2500+ rating, UltraBullet: 69.0% expected score (17 games)
- 2500+ rating, Bullet: 52.6% expected score (30,034 games)
- 2500+ rating, Blitz: 56.7% expected score (13,175 games)
- 2500+ rating, Rapid: 56.0% expected score (1,011 games)
- 2500+ rating, Classical: 47.7% expected score (62 games)
38 variations · ranked by floor
Floor — the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.
Methodology
Across every rating and clock, the Russian Game family scores 51.9% for White — we are 90% confident it is 51.9% — from 13M Lichess games across 38 variations. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played December 2023 to November 2025.
How the figures are made
- Whose games these are
- 13M+ rated games played on Lichess (2023-12 to 2025-11). The games are Lichess’s and free for anyone to use. What is ours is the reading of them. Last rebuilt January 2026.
- Which games we count
- Rated games only — nothing casual.
- Both players within 200 rating points of each other. A mismatch tells you about the gap, not about the opening.
- At least 2 moves played.
- A game is filed under White’s rating.
- Why every number comes with a range
- A number off a few hundred games is a guess. The same number off millions is a fact. The range is what tells them apart, and it is what the lists rank on — so an opening cannot reach the top on a lucky run of forty games. The more games behind a figure, the narrower its range.
- How much we need before we say anything
- An opening page needs 100 games. A gambit needs 50 games at a rating before we will say whether it pays there. The chaos and trap lists need 500 games overall and 250 games at one rating or clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Russian Game win rate?
Across the Russian Game's 38 variations, White wins 50.0%, draws 3.8% and loses 46.2%. Counting a draw as half a point, that is an Expected Score of 51.9%. It rests on 13M rated games from Lichess.
How many Russian Game variations are there?
38 Russian Game variations have a page of their own, each broken down by rating and by clock.
At what rating does the Russian Game perform best?
The Russian Game family performs best for White at 2500+, with an Expected Score of 53.9% (44K games) and the highest Floor of any rating with enough games to read. Performance may vary by specific variation.
Is the Russian Game better in blitz or rapid?
For White, the Russian Game scores higher in Rapid: an Expected Score of 51.9% in Blitz (6.4M games) against 53.2% in Rapid (2.7M games).
How sharp is the Russian Game?
Russian Game games are 96.2% decisive (non-draws), with an average length of 31 moves. Sharpness varies by specific variation.
Is the Russian Game a good opening family?
The Russian Game family is about level overall. Across its games, White wins 50.0% and loses 46.2%. Results differ between its 38 variations, so open the one you play for its own figures.