D51

Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

845,771 games: White 47.7% / Draw 5.8% / Black 46.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	410,531411K
	221,595222K
	124,052124K
	38,60739K
	15,77116K
	8,8568,856
	6,2796,279
	5,6035,603

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.21 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. cxd5 exd5 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 c6 8. Nf3 Nf8 9. Ne5 N6d7

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 48% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	54K
1400–1799	378K
1800–2199	524K
2200 and up	71K
Masters, over the board	1,360

Master games

Mamedyarov, S. – Ivanisevic, I. 1–0, 2016
Jakovenko, D. – Lupulescu, C. ½–½, 2014
Ivanchuk, V. – Ivanisevic, I. 1–0, 2016
Mamedyarov, S. – Grachev, B. ½–½, 2008
Korobov, A. – Kuzubov, Y. ½–½, 2016

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: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (ECO D51, 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 Nbd7 (4 moves).

In 845,771 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.7%, Black 46.5% and 5.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. e3, in 49% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Declined: Alekhine Variation and Queen's Gambit Declined: Rochlin Variation. In all, 8 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense

The most played answer, 5. e3, also scores best for White: 52.2%, with White winning 49.2% and Black 44.7% of 411K games. Of the main answers, 5. cxd5 scores lowest: 46.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. cxd5.

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

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.027% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.04% (its peak: 0.044% in 2018).

0.04%0.027%0.044%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.04%	14,122
2017	0.042%	23,019
2018	0.044%	34,660
2019	0.039%	48,833
2020	0.039%	112,829
2021	0.034%	134,313
2022	0.031%	116,597
2023	0.031%	116,386
2024	0.03%	106,225
2025	0.027%	94,345
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.026%	28,956

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 8 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (D51)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-modern-variation-knight-defense