D52

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

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Statistics from Lichess

170,871 games: White 49.9% / Draw 7.5% / Black 42.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	169,214169K
	1,5611,561
	3232
	2828
	1212
	1212
	44
	11

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

Engine evaluation

+0.09 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... Nxf6 8. a3 g6 9. Be2 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 Qc7 12. Qb3

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

By rating

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	197
1400–1799	15K
1800–2199	124K
2200 and up	34K
Masters, over the board	115

Master games

Grischuk, A. – Mamedyarov, S. ½–½, 2014
Riazantsev, A. – Fridman, D. 0–1, 2004
Postny, E. – Ovetchkin, R. 1–0, 2005
Cori, J. – Petrosyan, T. ½–½, 2015
Grigoryan, K. – Stremavicius, T. 0–1, 2025

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 27, 2026

Overview

Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Capablanca Variation (ECO D52, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bxf6 (7 moves).

In 170,871 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.9%, Black 42.6% and 7.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Nxf6, in 99% of those games.

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Description

Popularity by year

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Capablanca Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.0081% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0067% in 2025.

0.0061%0.0067%0.0081%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0061%	2,172
2017	0.0069%	3,774
2018	0.0081%	6,382
2019	0.0066%	8,203
2020	0.0068%	19,852
2021	0.006%	23,621
2022	0.0065%	24,427
2023	0.0067%	25,033
2024	0.0066%	23,646
2025	0.0067%	23,292
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0065%	7,108

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

Transpositions

D52 Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense then 7. Bxf6

Cite this page

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