Queen's Gambit Declined: Alapin Variation
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 d5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Alapin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D31, reached after 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 d5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 7 times by this move order. White won 43%, 14% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.55 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Ne5 Be7)
- ECO
- D31
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/p1p2ppp/1p2p3/3p4/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 7 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 4 (57%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 3 (43%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- san_jacqueson (2190) – elmaestttro (2157) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- LeonBank (1847) – babasmurff (1845) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
- XXeepp (1731) – vadik_fedoruk (1731) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Defense (2. c4 b6) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
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.