Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation
The Modern Variation is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5, the traditional line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
9,405,673 games: White 50.4% / Draw 5.7% / Black 43.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit Declined | 5,758,8635.8M | |
| 1,063,8141.1M | ||
| Knight Defense | 842,890843K | |
| 738,397738K | ||
| 308,297308K | ||
| 273,490273K | ||
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Been-Koomen Variation | 257,827258K | |
| 47,60248K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.10 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1
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 54% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 993K | |
| 1400–1799 | 5M | |
| 1800–2199 | 5.6M | |
| 2200 and up | 650K | |
| Masters, over the board | 7,914 |
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
Description
The Modern Variation is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5, the traditional line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White pins the knight on f6 to the queen. 4.Bg5 was the most common fourth move in the 20th century, although the Exchange Variation, 4.cxd5, has gradually become more common.
Main lines
- 4...Be7 is Black's most common reply, typically followed by 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3. The same position often arises from the Three Knights Variation, 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5, though that move order gives White the extra option of the Harrwitz Attack, 5.Bf4. After 6.Nf3, 6...Nbd7 is the Orthodox Defense, while 6...h6 is the Neo-Orthodox Variation, which leads to the Tartakower Variation (7.Bh4 b6), the Lasker Variation (7.Bh4 Ne4) and the Anti-Tartakower Variation (7.Bxf6).
- 4...Nbd7 sets up the Elephant Trap. If White avoids it, 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 allows 6...Qa5, the Cambridge Springs Defense.
Lines worth knowing
The Lasker Variation is a solid line that often leads to the exchange of two pairs of minor pieces. Viswanathan Anand chose it in the final game of the 2010 world championship match to beat Veselin Topalov and keep his title. The Anti-Tartakower was tested extensively in the Kasparov-Karpov matches of the 1980s, and Black has had no problems in it even at the highest level.
An early 4...h6 is weak because of 5.Bxf6: after 5...gxf6 6.cxd5 exd5 Black has doubled isolated pawns, and 5...Qxf6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nxd5 loses a pawn.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.4% of the 9.4 million games and Black 43.9%. White's lead shrinks a little with rating, from 52.3% against 43.9% under 1400 to 49.1% against 42.6% from 2200 up. Masters over the board draw half their games: in 7,914 games 50.3% were drawn, White won 32.4% and Black 17.4%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation
4…Nbd7 (Knight Defense) scores best for Black: 49.4%, with Black winning 46.5% and White 47.7% of 843K games. The most played, 4…Be7, scores 47.0% in 5.8M games, and 4…Bb4 scores lowest: 44.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 4…Be7.
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: Modern Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.43% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.34% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.37% | 131,221 |
| 2017 | 0.4% | 222,450 |
| 2018 | 0.43% | 340,317 |
| 2019 | 0.42% | 517,868 |
| 2020 | 0.39% | 1,145,666 |
| 2021 | 0.36% | 1,426,221 |
| 2022 | 0.36% | 1,336,043 |
| 2023 | 0.36% | 1,349,891 |
| 2024 | 0.35% | 1,242,315 |
| 2025 | 0.34% | 1,164,025 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.34% | 367,702 |
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 (4)
All 27 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- D53 Queen's Gambit Declined 4 moves
- D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Been-Koomen Variation 4 moves
- D51 Knight Defense 4 moves
- D66 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Fianchetto Variation 9 moves
- D53 Queen's Gambit Declined 5 moves
- D51 Queen's Gambit Declined: Alekhine Variation 6 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
- D51 Knight Defense 5 moves
- D66 Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line 8 moves
- D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Pseudo-Tarrasch Variation 5 moves
- D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Pseudo-Tarrasch Variation, Primitive Pillsbury Variation 6 moves
- D51 Queen's Gambit Declined: Rochlin Variation 7 moves
- D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Krause Variation 8 moves
- D51 Queen's Gambit Declined: Manhattan Variation 5 moves
- D51 Knight Defense 5 moves
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Capablanca System 9 moves
- D50 Canal Variation 5 moves
- D52 Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Argentine Variation 9 moves
- D52 Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Capablanca Variation 7 moves
- D51 Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation, Anti-Cambridge Springs Variation 6 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
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Queen's Gambit Declined, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation (D50)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-modern-variation