D55

Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line

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Statistics from Lichess

3,128,407 games: White 49.1% / Draw 6.5% / Black 44.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Queen's Gambit Declined: Neo-Orthodox Variation	780,891781K
Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense	546,852547K
	503,274503K
	469,911470K
	265,153265K
	251,399251K
	102,210102K
	87,83888K

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

Engine evaluation

+0.15 The position is about equal

Best play: 6... Nbd7 7. Qc2 h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7

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% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up, and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	96K
1400–1799	922K
1800–2199	2M
2200 and up	453K
Masters, over the board	7,877

Master games

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: Modern Variation, Normal Line (ECO D55, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 (6 moves).

In 3,128,407 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.1%, Black 44.3% and 6.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…h6, in 25% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense and Queen's Gambit Declined: Neo-Orthodox Variation. In all, 13 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line

6…b6 scores best for Black: 49.0%, with Black winning 45.7% and White 47.6% of 503K games. The most played, 6…h6, scores 47.9% in 781K games, and 6…c6 scores lowest: 45.9%. Stockfish's first choice is 6…Nbd7.

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, Normal Line peaked in 2018 at 0.15% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.11% in 2025.

0.12%0.11%0.15%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.12%	42,015
2017	0.13%	73,141
2018	0.15%	118,162
2019	0.14%	178,759
2020	0.13%	393,254
2021	0.12%	466,123
2022	0.12%	437,079
2023	0.12%	438,135
2024	0.11%	409,556
2025	0.11%	390,984
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.12%	127,617

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 (2)

All 13 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line (D55)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-modern-variation-normal-line