Queen's Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D20, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4. 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 34,996 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 3… e6 (20% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 3… e5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2)
- ECO
- D20
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/8/2pPP3/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 20,317 | |
| 1500-1999 | 13,257 | |
| 2000+ | 1,422 | |
| All | 34,996 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… e6 | 7,008 (20%) | |
| 3… b5 Central Variation, Greco Variation | 6,449 (18%) | |
| 3… e5 Central Variation, McDonnell Defense | 5,688 (16%) | |
| 3… Nf6 Central Variation, Alekhine System | 5,456 (16%) | |
| 3… Nc6 Central Variation, Modern Defense | 5,292 (15%) | |
| 3… c5 Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense | 1,019 (3%) | |
| 3… c6 | 896 (3%) | |
| 3… g6 | 521 (1%) |
Master games
140 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 70%, draw 10%, Black 20%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2729) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2638) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Apr Early · 2022-04-19
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2694) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 1-0 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 2nd Jul 2026 · 2026-07-02
- GM Alexandr Fier (2634) – GM David C Smerdon (2531) 0-1 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-08
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2763) – FM Farid Mustafayev (2319) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Jan Late · 2025-01-21
- GM Yuri Vovk (2594) – GM Nebojsa Nikcevic (2452) 1-0 · 29th Open · 2013-02-25
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess1Love0 (2790) – GM CrazySage (2802) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- spartak20 (2726) – IM filolog (2697) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- chaaa116 (2658) – RoryMcCann (2720) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Alekhine System D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Greco Variation D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 b5
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Modern Defense D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nc6
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Schwartz Defense D20 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 f5
More Queen's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Accelerated Mannheim Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov Gambit 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
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Korchnoi Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Novikov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Borisenko-Furman Variation D21
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes Variation D21
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense 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.