Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
192,718 games: White 52.4% / Draw 6.6% / Black 41.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 74,04274K | ||
| 46,36746K | ||
| 23,88824K | ||
| 18,90919K | ||
| 14,58115K | ||
| 2,2042,204 | ||
| 1,7451,745 | ||
| 1,6691,669 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 10, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.25 The position is about equal
Best play: 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 h6 10. Bh4 a6 11. a4 b6 12. O-O Bb7 13. Qe2
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 | 591 | |
| 1400–1799 | 24K | |
| 1800–2199 | 134K | |
| 2200 and up | 38K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,028 |
Master games
- Ivanchuk, V. – Ehlvest, J.
- Topalov, V. – Yermolinsky, A.
- Karpov, A. – Andersson, U.
- Moiseenko, A. – Zvjaginsev, V.
- Ivanchuk, V. – Asrian, K.
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: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line (ECO D66, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3 (8 moves).
In 192,718 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.4%, Black 41.0% and 6.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 8…dxc4, in 38% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Capablanca System. In all, 6 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: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line
The most played answer, 8…dxc4, also scores best for Black: 45.8%, with Black winning 42.0% and White 50.5% of 74K games. Of the main answers, 8…h6 scores lowest: 42.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 8…dxc4.
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: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line has lost ground since 2016: 0.0065% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0098% (its peak: 0.012% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0098% | 3,515 |
| 2017 | 0.011% | 5,795 |
| 2018 | 0.012% | 9,460 |
| 2019 | 0.01% | 12,454 |
| 2020 | 0.0086% | 25,166 |
| 2021 | 0.0071% | 27,582 |
| 2022 | 0.0067% | 25,088 |
| 2023 | 0.0068% | 25,474 |
| 2024 | 0.0068% | 24,202 |
| 2025 | 0.0065% | 22,624 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0069% | 7,531 |
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 (1)
Transpositions
All 6 named lines that continue from here
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Capablanca System 9 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: Orthodox Defense, Bd3 Line (D66)”. Lichess data as of 10 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-orthodox-defense-bd3-line