Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nd7
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D21, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nd7. 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 75 times by this move order. White won 53%, 4% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.78 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. e4 b5 5. a4 c6 6. Nc3 b4)
- ECO
- D21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppnpppp/8/8/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 44 | |
| 2000+ | 23 | |
| All | 75 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 28 (37%) | |
| 4. e4 | 17 (23%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 17 (23%) | |
| 4. g3 | 4 (5%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 3 (4%) | |
| 4. a4 | 2 (3%) | |
| 4. Qa4 | 2 (3%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
15 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 33%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- GM Pablo Salinas Herrera (2502) – FM Cristobal Torres Bravo (2372) 1-0 · ch-CHI 2020 · 2020-02-17
- IM Kostya Kavutskiy (2318) – IM Dau Khuong Duy (2521) 0-1 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 21st May 2026 · 2026-05-21
- IM Peter Schreiner (2480) – FM Gerald Hechl (2335) 1-0 · TCh-AUT 2018-19 · 2019-04-01
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Atila_90 (2260) – BelottiSamaras (2263) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Marburg2 (2253) – BelottiSamaras (2266) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- jamesIII (2146) – pram_andrey (2244) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation (2… dxc4 3. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
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.