Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense
The Ragozin Defense is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4, a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined in which Black pins the c3-knight as in the Nimzo-Indian. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
4,330,450 games: White 53.7% / Draw 5.2% / Black 41.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,715,5081.7M | ||
| 634,725635K | ||
| 354,391354K | ||
| 325,994326K | ||
| 295,760296K | ||
| 266,351266K | ||
| Alekhine Variation | 243,737244K | |
| 169,876170K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.18 The position is about equal
Best play: 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5
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 45% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 672K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.4M | |
| 2200 and up | 424K | |
| Masters, over the board | 18K |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Ding Liren – Carlsen, M.
- Ding Liren – Carlsen, M.
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
Description
The Ragozin Defense is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4, a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined in which Black pins the c3-knight as in the Nimzo-Indian. This page reaches it by 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4. It arises from the Three Knights Variation and is covered by ECO codes D37 to D39.
Main lines
White's main options are 5.Bg5, 5.cxd5 and 5.Qa4+.
- 5.Bg5. Black can play 5...h6, 5...Nbd7 or 5...dxc4, which leads to the Vienna Variation, commonly 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4. After 5...h6 the usual line is 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Ne4 Qe7; 6.Bh4 is well met by 6...dxc4. After 5...Nbd7 play most often continues 6.e3 c5, the Westphalian Variation.
- 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5. This avoids a possible transposition into the Vienna.
- 5.Qa4+, the Alekhine Variation. The usual continuation is 5...Nc6 6.e3 O-O, followed by 7.Qc2 or 7.Bd2.
The idea
The bishop on b4 pins the knight on c3 and can be exchanged for it, as in the Nimzo-Indian, while Black keeps the classical pawn on d5. In several lines Black takes on c4 and then strikes at the centre with ...c5.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 53.7% of the 4.3 million games and Black 41.1%. Below 2200 White wins about 53 to 54%, and from 2200 up 49.6% against 42.5%. Masters over the board draw most games: in 18,247 games 59.0% were drawn, White won 23.7% and Black 17.3%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense
The most played answer, 5. Bg5, also scores best for White: 57.1%, with White winning 54.5% and Black 40.3% of 1.7M games. Of the main answers, 5. Bd2 scores lowest: 53.3%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. Bg5.
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: Ragozin Defense peaked in 2019 at 0.19% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.15% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.15% | 54,785 |
| 2017 | 0.17% | 93,087 |
| 2018 | 0.19% | 145,665 |
| 2019 | 0.19% | 233,913 |
| 2020 | 0.18% | 533,749 |
| 2021 | 0.17% | 681,769 |
| 2022 | 0.17% | 646,429 |
| 2023 | 0.17% | 643,047 |
| 2024 | 0.16% | 556,795 |
| 2025 | 0.15% | 514,951 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.15% | 161,953 |
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 (3)
Transpositions
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Queen's Gambit Declined, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense (D38)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-declined-ragozin-defense