London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nc3
The London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D02, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nc3. It is a line of the London System. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 61%, 9% were drawn and Black won 30%. The most popular continuation is 5… a6 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5… a6 6. dxc5 Qxc5 7. Qd2 Nbd7 8. Bd3)
- ECO
- D02
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/pp2pppp/1q3n2/2pp4/3P1B2/2N1PN2/PPP2PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… a6 | 6 (26%) | |
| 5… Qxb2 | 4 (17%) | |
| 5… c4 | 4 (17%) | |
| 5… cxd4 | 3 (13%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 2 (9%) | |
| 5… e6 | 2 (9%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 2 (9%) |
Master games
78 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1/2-1/2 · Carlsen Tour Final 2020 · 2020-08-16
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Levon Aronian (2781) 1-0 · NIC Classic Prelim 2021 · 2021-04-25
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2700) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2728) 0-1 · GCT Super Blitz Poland · 2026-05-09
- GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2702) – GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2639) 0-1 · TCh-ESP Div Honor 2024 · 2024-10-18
- GM Gata Kamsky (2657) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2680) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Feb B · 2022-02-02
Search all games of the London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Chesspirate017 (2380) – IM Odirovski (2586) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- mzmaz (2456) – ludwis (2498) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- mzmaz (2458) – Daniil2250 (2381) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Knights Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3
More London System lines (all)
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.