Queen's Gambit Accepted: Rosenthal Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Rosenthal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D21, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,511 times by this move order. White won 56%, 5% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 4. e3 c5 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O Nf6)
- ECO
- D21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/8/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 587 | |
| 1500-1999 | 786 | |
| 2000+ | 138 | |
| All | 1,511 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 523 (35%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 313 (21%) | |
| 4. e4 | 255 (17%) | |
| 4. g3 | 254 (17%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 49 (3%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 40 (3%) | |
| 4. Qa4+ | 30 (2%) | |
| 4. a3 | 16 (1%) |
Master games
230 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 23%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2639) – GM Levon Aronian (2782) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 · 2021-10-27
- GM Nigel D Short (2655) – GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2700) 0-1 · II Neoclassical Masters · 2016-06-03
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2672) – GM Tamir Nabaty (2639) 1/2-1/2 · 35th ECC Open 2019 · 2019-11-14
- GM Dennis Wagner (2599) – GM David Navara (2695) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Nov Early · 2023-11-07
- GM Nijat Abasov (2655) – GM Tamir Nabaty (2639) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2019-20 · 2019-12-07
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Rosenthal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2869) – IM ManiacalZerker (2780) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- C01B01 (2559) – benga77 (2437) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- denis_2008 (2455) – rusert13 (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation (2… dxc4 3. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Rubinstein Variation (8. a4 c5) D27 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 a6 8. a4 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 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.