D46

Semi-Slav Defense: Bogoljubow Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

186,077 games: White 51.5% / Draw 5.8% / Black 42.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	148,129148K
	7,1477,147
	6,7716,771
	5,8775,877
	5,4255,425
	2,7642,764
	2,2712,271
	2,0062,006

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.40 White is slightly better

Best play: 7. b3 b6 8. Bb2 Bb7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 Re8 11. Ne5 dxc4

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 worse this line does for Black: Black scores 49% under 1400, 43% at 2200 and up and 36% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	6,551
1400–1799	59K
1800–2199	124K
2200 and up	19K
Masters, over the board	318

Master games

Ganguly, S. – Fedoseev, V. ½–½, 2019
Gelfand, B. – Ljubojevic, L. 1–0, 1993
Polugaevsky, L. – Ljubojevic, L. 0–1, 1993
Bareev, E. – Dizdarevic, E. 1–0, 2003
Kasimdzhanov, R. – Andersson, U. ½–½, 2004

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 27, 2026

Overview

Semi-Slav Defense: Bogoljubow Variation (ECO D46, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Semi-Slav Defense: Main Line, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Be7 (6 moves).

In 186,077 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.5%, Black 42.7% and 5.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. O-O, in 80% of those games.

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Description

Popularity by year

The Semi-Slav Defense: Bogoljubow Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.006% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.012%.

0.012%0.006%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.012%	4,119
2017	0.013%	6,894
2018	0.012%	9,181
2019	0.0098%	12,275
2020	0.0082%	24,048
2021	0.0068%	26,420
2022	0.0066%	24,875
2023	0.0065%	24,334
2024	0.0062%	22,352
2025	0.006%	20,961
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0058%	6,386

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Semi-Slav Defense: Bogoljubow Variation (D46)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/semi-slav-defense-bogoljubow-variation