Caissa Codex
D52

Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Bogoljubow Variation

Chess diagram: Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Bogoljubow Variation after 8. Qc2

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Statistics from Lichess

83,074 games: White 51.6% / Draw 7.4% / Black 41.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
27,11427K
23,68124K
17,92918K
6,7536,753
3,8993,899
1,3891,389
1,0541,054
491491

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.26 The position is about equal

Best play: 8... O-O 9. Be2 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Nb3 Qd8 12. Nxd4 Bxc3 13. Qxc3

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

Overview

Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Bogoljubow Variation (ECO D52, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Qc2 (8 moves).

In 83,074 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.6%, Black 41.0% and 7.4% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 8…dxc4, in 33% of those games.

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How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Bogoljubow Variation

8…O-O scores best for Black: 48.5%, with Black winning 44.7% and White 47.7% of 24K games. The most played, 8…dxc4, scores 44.4% in 27K games, and 8…Bxc3 scores lowest: 40.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 8…O-O.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Qc2, the position after Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Bogoljubow Variation (D52)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-cambridge-springs-defense-bogoljubow-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-cambridge-springs-defense-bogoljubow-variation