D11

Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

1,093,583 games: White 48.6% / Draw 6.2% / Black 45.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	310,316310K
	243,021243K
	131,410131K
	115,549116K
	109,727110K
	100,991101K
	33,59334K
	15,28615K

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

Engine evaluation

+0.29 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 e6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Rd1 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: Black scores 48% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 44% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	176K
1400–1799	592K
1800–2199	619K
2200 and up	121K
Masters, over the board	4,408

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: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense (ECO D11, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 (4 moves).

In 1,093,583 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.6%, Black 45.2% and 6.2% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. Nc3, in 28% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense

5. Qb3 scores best for White: 57.5%, with White winning 54.0% and Black 39.0% of 101K games. The most played, 5. Nc3, scores 51.7% in 310K games, and 5. Be2 scores lowest: 49.4%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. h3.

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 Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense has stayed between 0.039% and 0.049% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.043% in 2025).

0.049%0.043%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.049%	17,376
2017	0.049%	26,724
2018	0.048%	37,929
2019	0.045%	56,727
2020	0.042%	121,863
2021	0.039%	151,647
2022	0.041%	154,606
2023	0.042%	158,679
2024	0.042%	152,368
2025	0.043%	147,638
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.043%	47,389

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. “Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense (D11)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/slav-defense-quiet-variation-pin-defense