Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation (2… dxc4 3. Nf3)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D21, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11,058 times by this move order. White won 55%, 5% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… a6 4. e3 c5 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. O-O)
- ECO
- D21
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,048 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,971 | |
| 2000+ | 2,039 | |
| All | 11,058 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 Queen's Gambit Accepted (3. Nf3 Nf6) | 3,498 (32%) | |
| 3… e6 Rosenthal Variation | 1,511 (14%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 1,031 (9%) | |
| 3… Bg4 | 980 (9%) | |
| 3… b5 Slav Gambit | 864 (8%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 624 (6%) | |
| 3… c6 | 555 (5%) | |
| 3… c5 Gunsberg Defense | 496 (4%) |
Master games
296 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 19%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Gareev, T. (2602) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2743) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Jan Early · 2023-01-10
- GM Daniil Dubov (2661) – GM Evgeniy Najer (2658) 1/2-1/2 · 69th Moscow Blitz · 2015-09-06
- GM Benjamin Bok (2621) – GM Nihal Sarin (2692) 0-1 · Titled Tue 31st Oct Late · 2023-10-31
- IM Ihor Samunenkov (2485) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2743) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Jan Early · 2023-01-10
- GM Erwin L'Ami (2640) – GM Wouter Spoelman (2557) 0-1 · ch-NED 2013 · 2013-07-11
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2912) – Superstitions_Guy (2853) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- winx_m (2917) – LOVEHRJ (2755) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM ManiacalZerker (2797) – Sunrise34 (2852) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted (3. Nf3 Nf6) D23 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense D22 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes Variation D21 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nd7
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense D21 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c5
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Rosenthal Variation D21 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Slav Gambit D21 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 b5
More Queen's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- 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
- 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.