Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
29,383,349 games: White 50.7% / Draw 5.5% / Black 43.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation | 9,269,5679.3M | |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation | 8,452,4168.5M | |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation | 5,484,2285.5M | |
| 2,531,0182.5M | ||
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Harrwitz Attack | 1,704,4011.7M | |
| 589,198589K | ||
| 347,440347K | ||
| 307,967308K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 22, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.21 The position is about equal
Best play: 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 O-O 8. Bd3 c6
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 47% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 3.5M | |
| 1400–1799 | 14.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 17.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 2.5M | |
| Masters, over the board | 34K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Kramnik, V.
- Carlsen, M. – Kramnik, V.
- Carlsen, M. – Kramnik, V.
- Carlsen, M. – So, W.
- Carlsen, M. – Dominguez Perez, L.
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: Normal Defense (ECO D35, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 (3 moves).
In 29,383,349 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.7%, Black 43.8% and 5.5% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Bg5, in 32% of those games.
It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation and Queen's Gambit Declined: Harrwitz Attack. In all, 35 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense
4. cxd5 (Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation) scores best for White: 54.8%, with White winning 51.9% and Black 42.2% of 5.5M games. The most played, 4. Bg5, scores 53.3% in 9.3M games, and 4. e3 scores lowest: 51.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. 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: Normal Defense peaked in 2018 at 1.3% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 1.1% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.1% | 397,545 |
| 2017 | 1.2% | 664,520 |
| 2018 | 1.3% | 1,034,868 |
| 2019 | 1.3% | 1,599,737 |
| 2020 | 1.2% | 3,579,871 |
| 2021 | 1.1% | 4,401,338 |
| 2022 | 1.1% | 4,226,732 |
| 2023 | 1.1% | 4,243,954 |
| 2024 | 1.1% | 3,886,852 |
| 2025 | 1.1% | 3,684,468 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 1.1% | 1,169,360 |
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 (7)
- D35 Harrwitz Attack 4. Bf4
- D37 Harrwitz Attack, Orthodox Defense 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c6
- D50 Modern Variation 4. Bg5
- D41 Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Kmoch Variation 4. Nf3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bb5
- D40 Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Pillsbury Variation 4. Nf3 c5 5. Bg5
- D41 Semi-Tarrasch Defense, San Sebastian Variation 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Qa5
- D40 Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Symmetrical Variation 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O
Transpositions
All 35 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- D35 Queen's Gambit Declined: Harrwitz Attack 4 moves
- D37 Queen's Gambit Declined: Harrwitz Attack, Orthodox Defense 6 moves
- D50 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation 4 moves
- D41 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Kmoch Variation 11 moves
- D40 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Pillsbury Variation 5 moves
- D41 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, San Sebastian Variation 9 moves
- D40 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Symmetrical Variation 7 moves
- 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
- D40 Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Levenfish Variation 10 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
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense (D35)”. Lichess data as of 22 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-normal-defense