Queen's Gambit Accepted: Showalter Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Showalter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D24, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 962 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 4… e6 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… a6 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. a4)
- ECO
- D24
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/8/2pP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 3 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 388 | |
| 1500-1999 | 395 | |
| 2000+ | 179 | |
| All | 962 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… e6 | 325 (34%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 161 (17%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 130 (14%) | |
| 4… a6 | 121 (13%) | |
| 4… Bf5 | 78 (8%) | |
| 4… g6 | 38 (4%) | |
| 4… c6 | 32 (3%) | |
| 4… c5 | 26 (3%) |
Master games
372 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 19%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2642) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-02-24
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2682) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2764) 0-1 · World Stars Sharjah Int · 2020-06-13
- GM Denis Khismatullin (2653) – GM Evgeniy Najer (2634) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-08
- GM Yangyi Yu (2743) – GM Danyyil Dvirnyy (2542) 1-0 · 33rd ECC Open 2017 · 2017-10-12
- GM Aleksandar Indjic (2542) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2726) 0-1 · 42nd TCh-GRE 2014 · 2014-06-29
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Showalter Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- July16Q (2631) – TheorySpeedrun (2720) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- AlwaysLookingForMore (2676) – IM SpeedMonkey (2596) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- XuBofang (2594) – RoryMcCann (2667) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted (3. Nf3 Nf6) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Bogoljubow Defense D24 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e4
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense, Prianishenmo Gambit D24 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c5 5. d5 e6 6. e4 exd5 7. e5
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.