Queen's Gambit Declined: Barmen Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Barmen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D37, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 136 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bg5 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.27 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 5. Bf4 dxc4 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4)
- ECO
- D37
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4pn2/3p4/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 28 | |
| 2000+ | 108 | |
| All | 136 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bg5 | 69 (51%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 26 (19%) | |
| 5. cxd5 | 26 (19%) | |
| 5. e3 | 9 (7%) | |
| 5. g3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 5. a3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. Qc2 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. c5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
2,345 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 36%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2813) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2868) 1/2-1/2 · Supreme Masters 2013 · 2013-05-18
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2792) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Norway Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-02
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) 0-1 · GCT Blitz Paris 2016 · 2016-06-11
- GM Boris Gelfand (2755) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Tal Memorial · 2013-06-19
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1/2-1/2 · NIC Classic KO 2021 · 2021-04-27
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Barmen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2813) – AnonymousBrownGuy (2729) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- July16Q (2615) – AnonymousBrownGuy (2724) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- WFM haski_2014 (2620) – IM stairsarecool (2694) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation (3… d5 4. Nc3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Sämisch Variation D35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Knight Defense, Alekhine Gambit D37 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4
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.