D18

Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System

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Statistics from Lichess

326,272 games: White 45.9% / Draw 7.7% / Black 46.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	303,085303K
	11,99412K
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation	4,0364,036
	3,0083,008
	834834
	504504
	489489
	281281

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.24 The position is about equal

Best play: 6... e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxg6

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	982
1400–1799	21K
1800–2199	179K
2200 and up	130K
Masters, over the board	6,184

Master games

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

Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System (ECO D18, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Slav Defense: Czech Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 (6 moves).

In 326,272 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.9%, Black 46.3% and 7.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…e6, in 93% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation and Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation. In all, 4 named lines continue from it.

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Description

Popularity by year

The Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System has lost ground since 2016: 0.011% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.016% (its peak: 0.02% in 2018).

0.016%0.011%0.02%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.016%	5,747
2017	0.018%	9,901
2018	0.02%	16,097
2019	0.016%	20,525
2020	0.015%	43,801
2021	0.012%	45,266
2022	0.011%	41,959
2023	0.012%	43,478
2024	0.012%	41,300
2025	0.011%	39,657
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.012%	12,662

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 (2)

All 4 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System (D18)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/slav-defense-czech-variation-classical-system