Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 b5
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D20, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 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 21 times by this move order. White won 38%, 0% were drawn and Black won 62%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nxb5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.75 (Stockfish, depth 43; best line 6. Bf4 g5 7. Bxg5 b4 8. Bxf6 exf6)
- ECO
- D20
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p3pppp/5n2/1ppP4/2p1P3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 21 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nxb5 | 9 (43%) | |
| 6. e5 | 6 (29%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 2 (10%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. b3 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. f3 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. Qf3 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
74 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 21%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) – Ethereal 14.40 (3545) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-29
- Ethereal 14.40 (3545) – Stockfish dev-20241122-b7f17346 (3677) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-11-26
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 0-1 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 1-0 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 1-0 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SchhW (2579) – NM tufferguy (2725) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- LesleyUgochukwu (2510) – IM Jomajo (2661) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- akob24 (2474) – GoropadniPoni (2453) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5
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, Yefimov Gambit 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
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Korchnoi 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.