Tree path 4 levels Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation › Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line › Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense › Botvinnik Variation
Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Botvinnik Variation
Overview
Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Botvinnik Variation belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO D60, Closed & Semi-Closed Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
The Closed & Semi-Closed Games group covers closed and semi-closed games — 1.d4 systems characterised by long strategic manoeuvring rather than early tactics.
Play reaches this position via 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3, after 13 plies of opening development.
The line refines Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, which traces back to the root opening Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
- ECO code
- D60
- Group
- Closed & Semi-Closed Games (D)
- Plies
- 13
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
313,274 games · White 47.0% / Draw 6.3% / Black 46.6%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| dxc4 | 87,236 | |
| h6 | 50,907 | |
| b6 | 48,523 | |
| c5 | 45,005 | |
| c6 | 40,608 | |
| a6 | 27,346 | |
| Re8 | 10,064 | |
| Nb6 | 971 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 02:52:23
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