Queen's Gambit Declined

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Overview

Queen's Gambit Declined is a gambit, classified under ECO code D30 within the Closed & Semi-Closed Games family. As with all gambits, one side sacrifices material early — usually a pawn — in exchange for development, open lines, or initiative.

The Closed & Semi-Closed Games group covers closed and semi-closed games — 1.d4 systems characterised by long strategic manoeuvring rather than early tactics.

It begins with 4 plies and takes 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 to reach the canonical position.

It is a variation of Queen's Gambit, which itself descends from the root opening Queen's Pawn Game.

It is the root of 6 named variations, with Queen's Gambit Accepted, Orthodox Defense, Classical Variation, Queen's Knight Variation, and others among the most studied.

Counted recursively, this branch covers 97 sub-variations at all depths.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code: D30
Group: Closed & Semi-Closed Games (D)
Plies: 4
Parent: Queen's Gambit
Direct variations: 6
Total in subtree: 97

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

49,178,184 games · White 50.9% / Draw 5.5% / Black 43.6%

Moves	Games	W / D / B
Nc3	30,364,104
Nf3	8,811,035
cxd5	3,484,343
e3	3,349,470
a3	1,129,169
g3	687,722
c5	567,237
Bf4	566,436

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:03:36

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Variations (6)

Show all 97 sub-variations (full subtree)

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Overview

Statistics from Lichess

Variations (6)

Related variations at the same level