Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D20, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 27,091 times by this move order. White won 55%, 5% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (22% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 Bd6 6. Nf3)
- ECO
- D20
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2pP4/4P3/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 12,373 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12,882 | |
| 2000+ | 1,836 | |
| All | 27,091 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 5,940 (22%) | |
| 3… b5 | 5,251 (19%) | |
| 3… e6 | 3,832 (14%) | |
| 3… e5 | 2,968 (11%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 2,158 (8%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 1,816 (7%) | |
| 3… Be6 | 1,484 (5%) | |
| 3… c5 | 716 (3%) |
Master games
6,121 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 27%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) – Ethereal 12.09 (3718) 1/2-1/2 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-26
- Ethereal 12.09 (3718) – AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) 1/2-1/2 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-26
- StoofvleesII a18 (3532) – LCZero0.28.0-rc1_69146 (3614) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-05
- LCZero0.28.0-rc1_69146 (3614) – StoofvleesII a18 (3532) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-03
- Igel3.0.5 (3512) – AllieSteinv0.8-120f959_PS1.7 (3543) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-05
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM cutemouse83 (2923) – Superstitions_Guy (2761) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM JanistanTV (2732) – GM athena-pallada (2883) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2963) – IM SpeedMonkey (2611) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Billinger Gambit D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. Qb3 Qe7 6. a3
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Christensen Gambit D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. Qb3 Qe7 6. Nf3
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Korchnoi Gambit D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. Qb3 Qe7 6. Kf1
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Novikov Gambit D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. Qb3 Qe7 6. Nd2
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Russian Gambit D27 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. e4
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: Saduleto Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Schwartz Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Borisenko-Furman Variation D21
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.