Queen's Gambit Declined (5… Nbd7 6. e3)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3
The Queen's Gambit Declined is a chess opening classified as ECO D52, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 193 times by this move order. White won 46%, 8% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6… Qa5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6… Be7 7. Be2 h6 8. Bh4 Ne4 9. Bxe7)
- ECO
- D52
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp1n1ppp/2p1pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 64 | |
| 2000+ | 122 | |
| All | 193 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Qa5 Cambridge Springs Defense (6. e3 Qa5) | 83 (43%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 54 (28%) | |
| 6… Bd6 | 21 (11%) | |
| 6… Bb4 | 14 (7%) | |
| 6… h6 | 12 (6%) | |
| 6… a6 | 4 (2%) | |
| 6… dxc4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6… b6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
339 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 28%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Sarana (2703) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2789) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Late · 2024-04-16
- GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2714) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2757) 0-1 · Tal Memorial Blitz 2014 · 2014-11-13
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2747) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2701) 1/2-1/2 · Crocus City Stars Rapid · 2023-01-25
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2732) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2711) 1/2-1/2 · Bronstein 100 Match 2024 · 2024-02-19
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2734) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2692) 1-0 · Chess.com Classic Play-In · 2024-05-08
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Natah_Flo (2687) – Dinobox (2525) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- RadioJoy (2598) – LTL_0880 (2547) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Vigolenso (2568) – LTL_0880 (2539) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Semi-Slav Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense (6. e3 Qa5) D52 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5
More Queen's Gambit Declined lines (all)
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Pseudo-Slav D02
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Austrian Attack, Salvio Countergambit D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Austrian Defense D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Austrian Defense, Gusev Countergambit D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Austrian Defense, Haberditz Variation D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Argentinian Gambit D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Pseudo-Chigorin D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Queen Attack D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Baltic Defense, Queen Attack Deferred D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense D06
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense, Tan Gambit D06
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.