D08

Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Normal Line

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Statistics from Lichess

2,078,628 games: White 49.9% / Draw 5.2% / Black 44.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	1,680,8861.7M
Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Tartakower Defense	236,606237K
	114,901115K
	25,92626K
	11,90212K
	1,8791,879
	1,6771,677
	1,5631,563

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.67 White is slightly better

Best play: 4... Nc6 5. a3 Nge7 6. b4 Ng6 7. Bb2 a5 8. b5 Ncxe5 9. Nxe5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: White scores 52% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 60% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	219K
1400–1799	1M
1800–2199	1.2M
2200 and up	208K
Masters, over the board	1,166

Master games

Mamedyarov, S. – Nepomniachtchi, I. ½–½, 2018
Ivanchuk, V. – Morozevich, A. ½–½, 2012
Grischuk, A. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 1–0, 2018
Grischuk, A. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 1–0, 2018
Gelfand, B. – Morozevich, A. ½–½, 2012

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: Albin Countergambit, Normal Line (ECO D08, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 (4 moves).

In 2,078,628 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.9%, Black 44.9% and 5.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…Nc6, in 81% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Fianchetto Variation and Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Tartakower Defense. In all, 9 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Normal Line

The most played answer, 4…Nc6, also scores best for Black: 48.3%, with Black winning 45.6% and White 49.0% of 1.7M games. Of the main answers, 4…Bb4+ scores lowest: 42.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4…Nc6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Normal Line has lost ground since 2016: 0.068% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.096% (its peak: 0.11% in 2018).

0.096%0.068%0.11%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.096%	34,278
2017	0.1%	56,657
2018	0.11%	86,578
2019	0.095%	119,034
2020	0.084%	246,909
2021	0.084%	326,814
2022	0.079%	298,092
2023	0.081%	303,738
2024	0.073%	260,444
2025	0.068%	235,169
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.07%	76,446

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 (3)

All 9 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Normal Line (D08)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-albin-countergambit-normal-line