Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
30,122,703 games: White 49.9% / Draw 6.2% / Black 43.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Pawn Game: London System | 7,546,6857.5M | |
| 7,052,0957.1M | ||
| Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System | 5,879,7975.9M | |
| Pseudo-Catalan | 3,442,6263.4M | |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack | 2,820,9102.8M | |
| 1,288,8081.3M | ||
| 880,055880K | ||
| 403,632404K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 3, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.18 The position is about equal
Best play: 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 h6
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 48% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 7.9M | |
| 1400–1799 | 14.7M | |
| 1800–2199 | 17.5M | |
| 2200 and up | 4.3M | |
| Masters, over the board | 73K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L.
- Grischuk, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Ding Liren
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
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: Symmetrical Variation (ECO D02, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 (2 moves).
In 30,122,703 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.9%, Black 43.9% and 6.2% were drawn. White's most played move here is 3. Bf4, in 25% of those games.
It branches into 11 named variations; the most played are Queen's Pawn Game: London System and Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System. In all, 21 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 Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation
3. c4 scores best for White: 54.7%, with White winning 51.5% and Black 42.0% of 7.1M games. The most played, 3. Bf4, scores 53.2% in 7.5M games, and 3. e3 scores lowest: 52.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3. c4.
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 Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation has stayed between 1.0% and 1.2% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (1.2% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.0% | 369,755 |
| 2017 | 1.1% | 622,770 |
| 2018 | 1.2% | 947,758 |
| 2019 | 1.1% | 1,418,815 |
| 2020 | 1.2% | 3,449,756 |
| 2021 | 1.1% | 4,176,099 |
| 2022 | 1.2% | 4,333,898 |
| 2023 | 1.2% | 4,481,061 |
| 2024 | 1.2% | 4,290,544 |
| 2025 | 1.2% | 4,182,884 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 1.2% | 1,345,144 |
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 (11)
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Janowski Variation 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. h4
- D60 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rauzer Variation 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qb3
- D65 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6 9. cxd5
- D04 Colle System 3. e3
- D02 London System 3. Bf4
- D02 Pseudo-Catalan 3. g3
- D03 Torre Attack 3. Bg5
- D02 Zilbermints Countergambit 3. c4 b5
- D49 Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation, Sozin Variation 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 axb5 13. O-O
- D45 Semi-Slav Defense: Stoltz Variation 3. c4 c6 4. e3 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3
- D45 Semi-Slav Defense: Stonewall Defense 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Ne4 6. Bd3 f5
Transpositions
All 21 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- D67 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Janowski Variation 10 moves
- D60 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rauzer Variation 7 moves
- D65 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack 9 moves
- D04 Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System 3 moves
- D02 Queen's Pawn Game: London System 3 moves
- D02 Pseudo-Catalan 3 moves
- D03 Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack 3 moves
- D02 Queen's Pawn Game: Zilbermints Countergambit 3 moves
- D49 Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation, Sozin Variation 13 moves
- D45 Semi-Slav Defense: Stoltz Variation 7 moves
- D45 Semi-Slav Defense: Stonewall Defense 6 moves
- D05 Colle System 3 moves
- D04 Anti-Colle 3 moves
- D04 Grünfeld Formation 4 moves
- D03 Gossip Variation 3 moves
- D03 Grünfeld Variation 3 moves
- D45 Stoltz Variation 8 moves
- D05 Colle System 4 moves
- D05 Rubinstein Opening: Semi-Slav Defense 7 moves
- D05 Semi-Slav Defense 7 moves
- D05 Semi-Slav Defense 8 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation (D02)”. Lichess data as of 3 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-symmetrical-variation