Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Greco Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 b5
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Greco Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D20, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 b5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6,449 times by this move order. White won 54%, 3% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. a4 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. a4 c6 5. axb5 cxb5 6. Nc3 Qb6)
- ECO
- D20
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/p1p1pppp/8/1p6/2pPP3/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,954 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,314 | |
| 2000+ | 181 | |
| All | 6,449 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. a4 | 3,169 (49%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 1,906 (30%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 619 (10%) | |
| 4. b3 | 281 (4%) | |
| 4. a3 | 167 (3%) | |
| 4. d5 | 95 (1%) | |
| 4. e5 | 42 (1%) | |
| 4. f4 | 36 (1%) |
Master games
717 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 22%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-24
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- GM Levon Aronian (2785) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2750) 1-0 · FIDE Grand Prix 3 Pool A · 2022-03-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- spartak20 (2726) – IM filolog (2697) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM ErgRaider (2514) – gagoteveyu (2761) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- omariscof (2558) – MothToTheFlame (2655) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4
More Queen's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Accelerated Mannheim Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Alekhine System D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Modern Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense, Yefimov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Billinger Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Christensen Gambit D20
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.