Marienbad System

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5

The Marienbad System is a chess opening classified as ECO A47, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. O-O (61% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5. O-O cxd4 6. Qxd4 e6 7. c4 Nc6)

ECO: A47
Moves: 8 plies
FEN: rn1qkb1r/pb1ppppp/1p3n2/2p5/3P4/5NP1/PPP1PPBP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 5
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	1	100%
1500-1999	6	50%50%
2000+	16	50%44%
All	23	48%48%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
5. O-O	14 (61%)	43%50%
5. dxc5	3 (13%)	67%33%
5. c3	3 (13%)	67%33%
5. e3	2 (9%)	50%50%
5. c4	1 (4%)	100%

Master games

242 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 23%, draw 25%, Black 52%). The strongest:

GM Daniil Dubov (2708) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 1/2-1/2 · MrDodgy Inv 3 Finals · 2022-12-01
GM Levon Aronian (2765) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 0-1 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-14
GM Alexander Donchenko (2599) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th May Late · 2022-05-17
GM Hrant Melkumyan (2660) – GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli (2636) 0-1 · PRO League All Stars St1 · 2018-09-08
GM Tuan Minh Le (2598) – GM Daniil Dubov (2684) 1/2-1/2 · Comet Open Titled Losers · 2025-10-18

Search all games of the Marienbad System and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

uSeRnAmEnOtAvAiL (2744) – oprahwindfury81 (2787) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Unknown_9086 (2502) – FabianoCaruana2019 (2451) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Tristan2020 (2318) – CM Ersahin (2465) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s

Comes from

Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense (2. Nf3 b6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6

Continuations

Marienbad System: Berg Variation A47 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5 5. c4 cxd4 6. Qxd4

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.