Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Capablanca Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bxf6
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Capablanca Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D52, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bxf6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 29 times by this move order. White won 72%, 4% were drawn and Black won 24%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nxf6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 7… Nxf6 8. a3 g6 9. Be2 Bg7 10. b4)
- ECO
- D52
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/pp1n1ppp/2p1pB2/q2p4/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bxf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 17 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 29 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Nxf6 | 29 (100%) |
Master games
22 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 28%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- GM Karen H. Grigoryan (2530) – GM Titas Stremavicius (2544) 0-1 · Cherry Blossom Classic · 2025-05-25
- FM Roman Yanchenko (2467) – IM Eric Rosen (2356) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Nov Late · 2022-11-01
- IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham (2395) – FM Claudio Sericano (2260) 1-0 · Abu Dhabi Masters Online · 2024-08-21
- Istvan Pajzer (2116) – Mihaly Csikos (2058) 0-1 · 18th Battle of Senta Open · 2014-07-22
- Manukian, Al. (2190) – Jan Bauner (1973) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-Euro Seniors +65 · 2016-06-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- mossa666 (2310) – askarki (2238) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- vasvas1954 (2176) – Pa1nK1ller (2219) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- Mustajab67 (2223) – Bntary14 (2161) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (5. e3 c6) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6
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.