Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Normal Line
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Normal Line is a chess opening classified as ECO D26, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 218 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6… a6 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 6… a6 7. Be2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. b3)
- ECO
- D26
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/4pn2/2p5/2BP4/4PN2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 1 6- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 34 | |
| 2000+ | 182 | |
| All | 218 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… a6 Classical Defense, Main Line (6. O-O a6) | 133 (61%) | |
| 6… Nc6 Classical Defense, Steinitz Variation, Development Variation | 61 (28%) | |
| 6… cxd4 Classical Defense, Steinitz Variation, Exchange Variation | 18 (8%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 5 (2%) | |
| 6… b6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
80 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 25%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 1/2-1/2 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2732) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2026 · 2026-08-06
- GM So, W. (2748) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2741) 1/2-1/2 · Champions Showdown Kings · 2025-03-06
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2708) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2738) 1-0 · TechM GCL 2025 · 2025-12-19
- GM Ray Robson (2693) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2741) 1-0 · ch-USA 2024 · 2024-10-16
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gsg_1999 (2585) – FM Konnov_Oleg (2586) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- WOW_PEDRO (2561) – Surreptitiously421 (2610) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM Valery_Skatchkov2004 (2569) – Surreptitiously421 (2600) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Main Line (6. O-O a6) D27 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Steinitz Variation, Development Variation D26 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Steinitz Variation, Exchange Variation D26 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O cxd4
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, Greco Variation 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
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.