Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Na6

1...Na6? - Australian Defense

The dubious Australian Defense (1. d4 Na6?) is a chess opening that is not very popular or well-regarded by experts. It is a transposition of the De Bruycker's Defense (1. e4 c6 2. d4 Na6), which is a more solid and principled defense against 1. e4. However, some players may choose to play 1. d4 instead of 1. e4, hoping to surprise their opponents with an unusual move order.

According to the web search results, the dubious Australian Defense has only a 29% chance of success for black, according to an analysis engine². Black can sometimes transpose to the De Bruycker's Defense or the Caro-Kann Defense (1. d4 c6 2. e4) with moves like 2...c6 or 2...e5². Moreover, most of the games played with this opening are short and uninformative, as white usually wins after a small amount of moves or after dozens of exchanges.

References

- [Queen's Pawn Opening: Australian Defense - Chess Openings] - [d4 Na6 e4 only 29% Success Rate - Chess (1) d4 Na6 e4 only 29% Success Rate - Chess Forums. 'www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/d4-na6-e4-only-29-success-rate.' (2) d4 Na6 e4 only 29% Success Rate - Chess Forums. 'www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/d4-na6-e4-only-29-success-rate.' (3) Queen's Pawn Opening: Australian Defense - Chess Openings. 'www.chess.com/openings/Queens-Pawn-Opening-Australian-Defense.'

1. d4 Na6?