Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Main Line
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Statistics from Lichess
171,818 games: White 50.2% / Draw 7.3% / Black 42.5%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 53,19753K | ||
| 30,82331K | ||
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Henneberger Variation | 26,71127K | |
| 23,20223K | ||
| 21,07021K | ||
| 8,7488,748 | ||
| 5,5015,501 | ||
| 1,6971,697 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 6, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.14 The position is about equal
Best play: 7... h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. Bb5 cxd4 12. Qxd4
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 | 742 | |
| 1400–1799 | 22K | |
| 1800–2199 | 109K | |
| 2200 and up | 45K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,112 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Radjabov, T. – Karjakin, S.
- Le Quang Liem – Aronian, L.
- Aravindh, C. V. – Le, Q. L.
- Topalov, V. – Nielsen, P. H.
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, Main Line (ECO D63, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a declined gambit in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 (7 moves).
In 171,818 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.2%, Black 42.5% and 7.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…c6, in 31% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Henneberger Variation. In all, 6 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Main Line
7…a6 (Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Henneberger Variation) scores best for Black: 49.3%, with Black winning 45.6% and White 47.0% of 27K games. The most played, 7…c6, scores 45.3% in 53K games, and 7…c5 scores lowest: 45.2%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…h6.
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, Main Line has lost ground since 2016: 0.0059% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.0081% (its peak: 0.0096% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0081% | 2,901 |
| 2017 | 0.0086% | 4,716 |
| 2018 | 0.0096% | 7,531 |
| 2019 | 0.0089% | 11,144 |
| 2020 | 0.0078% | 22,864 |
| 2021 | 0.0064% | 24,912 |
| 2022 | 0.006% | 22,484 |
| 2023 | 0.0061% | 22,933 |
| 2024 | 0.006% | 21,540 |
| 2025 | 0.0059% | 20,568 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0062% | 6,844 |
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 6 named lines that continue from here
- D63 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Henneberger Variation 7 moves
- D63 Main Line 7 moves
- D68 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Classical Variation 13 moves
- D64 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack 8 moves
- D63 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Swiss, Carlsbad Variation 8 moves
- D64 Rubinstein Attack 8 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Main Line (D63)”. Lichess data as of 6 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-orthodox-defense-main-line