Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation, Pseudo-Catalan
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Statistics from Lichess
3,579,210 games: White 50.4% / Draw 6.7% / Black 42.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 892,517893K | ||
| 672,676673K | ||
| 411,882412K | ||
| 407,958408K | ||
| 394,673395K | ||
| 360,077360K | ||
| 284,671285K | ||
| 42,16642K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.08 The position is about equal
Best play: 3... Bf5 4. Nh4 Be6 5. Nd2 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. c3 O-O 8. O-O
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 54% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 49% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 538K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.4M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 545K | |
| Masters, over the board | 4,859 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Nepomniachtchi, I.
- Carlsen, M. – Duda, J.
- Carlsen, M. – Karjakin, S.
- Caruana, F. – Aronian, L.
- Carlsen, M. – Keymer, V.
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, Pseudo-Catalan (ECO D02, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 (3 moves).
In 3,579,210 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.4%, Black 42.9% and 6.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…e6, in 25% of those games.
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, Pseudo-Catalan
3…c5 scores best for Black: 48.6%, with Black winning 45.3% and White 48.2% of 360K games. The most played, 3…e6, scores 45.4% in 893K games, and 3…Nc6 scores lowest: 42.3%. Stockfish's first choice is 3…Bf5.
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: Symmetrical Variation, Pseudo-Catalan has gained ground since 2016: 0.14% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.11%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.11% | 39,781 |
| 2017 | 0.12% | 68,774 |
| 2018 | 0.14% | 106,059 |
| 2019 | 0.13% | 167,810 |
| 2020 | 0.14% | 413,168 |
| 2021 | 0.13% | 501,941 |
| 2022 | 0.14% | 537,133 |
| 2023 | 0.14% | 524,478 |
| 2024 | 0.14% | 511,046 |
| 2025 | 0.14% | 494,863 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.14% | 154,506 |
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
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation, Pseudo-Catalan (D02)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-pawn-game-symmetrical-variation-pseudo-catalan