Queen's Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack
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Statistics from Lichess
5,495,356 games: White 53.3% / Draw 4.8% / Black 42.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,180,2411.2M | ||
| 1,092,3751.1M | ||
| 708,174708K | ||
| 672,764673K | ||
| 514,060514K | ||
| 478,872479K | ||
| 321,133321K | ||
| 169,960170K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 20, 2026
Engine evaluation
−0.12 The position is about equal
Best play: 2... f6 3. Bd2 Nc6 4. c4 e5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. dxe5 fxe5 7. Nc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 52% under 1400, 55% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.6M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.7M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.9M | |
| 2200 and up | 429K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,791 |
Master games
- Artemiev, V. – Caruana, F.
- Morozevich, A. – Nakamura, H.
- Morozevich, A. – Kramnik, V.
- Nakamura, H. – Aronian, L.
- Kramnik, V. – Gelfand, B.
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
Overview
Queen's Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack (ECO D00, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 (2 moves).
In 5,495,356 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 53.3%, Black 42.0% and 4.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nf6, in 21% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, Queen's Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack, Welling Variation.
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 Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack
2…c5 scores best for Black: 48.1%, with Black winning 45.8% and White 49.6% of 321K games. The most played, 2…Nf6, scores 45.9% in 1.2M games, and 2…Nc6 scores lowest: 43.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…f6.
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 Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack has stayed between 0.19% and 0.23% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.22% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.23% | 83,867 |
| 2017 | 0.22% | 120,917 |
| 2018 | 0.2% | 159,773 |
| 2019 | 0.21% | 258,566 |
| 2020 | 0.19% | 569,356 |
| 2021 | 0.2% | 784,007 |
| 2022 | 0.21% | 786,329 |
| 2023 | 0.22% | 821,388 |
| 2024 | 0.22% | 797,449 |
| 2025 | 0.22% | 770,148 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.22% | 245,091 |
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)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Levitsky Attack (D00)”. Lichess data as of 20 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-levitsky-attack