Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
11,877,336 games: White 50.6% / Draw 5.9% / Black 43.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-Slav Defense | 3,936,6903.9M | |
| 2,368,6312.4M | ||
| 1,796,6811.8M | ||
| Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack | 1,565,4301.6M | |
| Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation | 922,972923K | |
| Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation | 802,910803K | |
| 206,693207K | ||
| 148,370148K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.19 The position is about equal
Best play: 4... e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. Be2 Bg7 9. 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, 53% at 2200 and up and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 930K | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.8M | |
| 1800–2199 | 7.4M | |
| 2200 and up | 2M | |
| Masters, over the board | 63K |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Topalov, V.
- Ding, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Ding, L. – Caruana, F.
- Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.
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
Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation (ECO D15, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Slav Defense: Modern Line, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 (4 moves).
In 11,877,336 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.6%, Black 43.6% and 5.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…e6, in 33% of those games.
It branches into 5 named variations; the most played are Semi-Slav Defense and Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack. In all, 47 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation
4…dxc4 (Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack) scores best for Black: 49.1%, with Black winning 46.1% and White 47.9% of 1.6M games. The most played, 4…e6, scores 46.4% in 3.9M games, and 4…Bg4 scores lowest: 44.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 4…e6.
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 Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.58% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.44% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.5% | 179,662 |
| 2017 | 0.53% | 292,998 |
| 2018 | 0.58% | 454,042 |
| 2019 | 0.52% | 653,904 |
| 2020 | 0.48% | 1,416,612 |
| 2021 | 0.44% | 1,722,565 |
| 2022 | 0.45% | 1,690,299 |
| 2023 | 0.45% | 1,689,841 |
| 2024 | 0.44% | 1,575,058 |
| 2025 | 0.44% | 1,513,362 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.44% | 483,725 |
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 (5)
All 47 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- D43 Semi-Slav Defense 4 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation 4 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation 4 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Süchting Variation 4 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack 4 moves
- D52 Queen's Gambit Declined 6 moves
- D44 Semi-Slav Defense Accepted 5 moves
- D43 Anti-Moscow Gambit 6 moves
- D47 Meran Variation, Lundin Variation 8 moves
- D48 Meran Variation, Reynolds' Variation 10 moves
- D49 Meran Variation, Sozin Variation 11 moves
- D43 Moscow Variation 6 moves
- D45 Stoltz Variation, Center Variation 7 moves
- D45 Stoltz Variation, Shabalov Attack 7 moves
- D16 Slav Defense: Alapin Variation 5 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation 5 moves
- D15 Chebanenko Variation 5 moves
- D15 Advance System 5 moves
- D15 Slav Defense: Geller Gambit 5 moves
- D52 Cambridge Springs Defense 6 moves
- D44 Semi-Slav Defense: Botvinnik Variation 6 moves
- D43 Semi-Slav Defense: Hastings Variation 7 moves
- D45 Mikhalchishin Line 10 moves
- D17 Slav Defense: Czech Variation 5 moves
- D15 Geller Gambit 6 moves
- D16 Slav Defense: Smyslov Variation 5 moves
- D16 Slav Defense: Soultanbeieff Variation 5 moves
- D16 Slav Defense: Steiner Variation 5 moves
- D52 Cambridge Springs Defense 7 moves
- D52 Bogoljubow Variation 8 moves
- D52 Rubinstein Variation 7 moves
- D44 Botvinnik Variation 9 moves
- D44 Ekstrom Variation 10 moves
- D17 Bled Attack 6 moves
- D18 Classical System 6 moves
- D17 Krause Attack 6 moves
- D52 Yugoslav Variation 7 moves
- D44 Lilienthal Variation 11 moves
- D17 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation 8 moves
- D19 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation 8 moves
- D17 Fazekas Gambit 7 moves
- D18 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation 6 moves
- D17 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Wiesbaden Variation 6 moves
- D17 Morozevich Variation 11 moves
- D19 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System, Main Line 9 moves
- D17 Sharp Line 8 moves
- D19 Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation, Sämisch Variation 10 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation (D15)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/slav-defense-three-knights-variation