Queen's Gambit Declined 4. Bg5 Be7
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Statistics from Lichess
5,837,600 games: White 50.0% / Draw 5.9% / Black 44.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 3,044,7433M | ||
| 1,748,1791.7M | ||
| 380,549381K | ||
| Modern Variation, Heral Variation | 326,548327K | |
| 119,994120K | ||
| 53,99554K | ||
| 31,62632K | ||
| 28,77329K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 23, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.14 The position is about equal
Best play: 5. e3 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Rc1 O-O 8. Nf3 c6 9. Bd3 dxc4
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 47% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 432K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.6M | |
| 2200 and up | 420K | |
| Masters, over the board | 5,245 |
Master games
- So, W. – Kramnik, V.
- Mamedyarov, S. – Kramnik, V.
- So, W. – Kramnik, V.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- Gelfand, B. – Kramnik, V.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Queen's Gambit Declined (ECO D53, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 (4 moves).
In 5,837,600 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.0%, Black 44.1% and 5.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. e3, in 52% of those games.
It branches into 5 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Heral Variation and Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line. In all, 11 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 4…Be7
The most played answer, 5. e3, also scores best for White: 53.7%, with White winning 50.6% and Black 43.2% of 3M games. Of the main answers, 5. Nf3 scores lowest: 52.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. e3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.27% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.21% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.22% | 78,404 |
| 2017 | 0.25% | 135,990 |
| 2018 | 0.27% | 211,040 |
| 2019 | 0.26% | 322,359 |
| 2020 | 0.24% | 701,792 |
| 2021 | 0.22% | 869,911 |
| 2022 | 0.22% | 824,541 |
| 2023 | 0.22% | 834,814 |
| 2024 | 0.22% | 779,050 |
| 2025 | 0.21% | 741,499 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.22% | 236,593 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (5)
- D53 Queen's Gambit Declined 5. Nf3
- D57 Lasker Defense, Bernstein Variation, Mar del Plata Gambit 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Qb3 Rd8 12. c4 Be6
- D56 Lasker Defense, Russian Variation 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Qc2 Nf6 10. Bd3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 c5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Rfd1 Bd7
- D53 Modern Variation, Heral Variation 5. Bxf6
- D66 Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3
All 11 named lines that continue from here
- D53 Queen's Gambit Declined 5 moves
- D57 Lasker Defense, Bernstein Variation, Mar del Plata Gambit 12 moves
- D56 Lasker Defense, Russian Variation 13 moves
- D53 Modern Variation, Heral Variation 5 moves
- D66 Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line 8 moves
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Capablanca System 9 moves
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line 10 moves
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Alekhine Variation 11 moves
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Main Line 11 moves
- D68 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Classical Variation 12 moves
- D69 Classical Variation 14 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined (D53)”. Lichess data as of 23 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-2