Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
111,754 games: White 51.0% / Draw 6.5% / Black 42.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 23,42423K | ||
| 23,32223K | ||
| 20,13520K | ||
| 18,81119K | ||
| 15,44315K | ||
| 5,3895,389 | ||
| 4,2984,298 | ||
| 238238 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.15 The position is about equal
Best play: 7... h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxd5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
Overview
Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation (ECO D61, 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. Qc2 (7 moves).
In 111,754 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.0%, Black 42.4% and 6.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…h6, in 21% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation, Flohr Line.
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, Rubinstein Variation
7…c5 scores best for Black: 47.8%, with Black winning 44.4% and White 48.7% of 19K games. The most played, 7…h6, scores 45.4% in 23K games, and 7…c6 scores lowest: 43.8%. 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
Variations (1)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation (D61)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-orthodox-defense-rubinstein-variation