Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Yugoslav Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense, Yugoslav Variation 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 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5. 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 13 times by this move order. White won 54%, 8% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qd2 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rc2 b6)
- ECO
- D52
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/pp1n1ppp/2p1p3/q2n2B1/3P4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 13 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qd2 | 6 (46%) | |
| 8. Qc2 | 3 (23%) | |
| 8. Rc1 | 2 (15%) | |
| 8. Qb3 | 2 (15%) |
Master games
215 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 31%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760) 1-0 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2014 · 2014-04-20
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2709) 1-0 · DM Carlsen-Artemiev 2021 · 2021-04-21
- GM Liren Ding (2799) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2729) 1-0 · Goldmoney Asian Rapid KO · 2021-06-30
- GM Liren Ding (2811) – GM Sam Shankland (2705) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-09-02
- GM Anish Giri (2768) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2731) 1/2-1/2 · 82nd Tata Steel GpA · 2020-01-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- RadioJoy (2598) – LTL_0880 (2547) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Miura2025 (2460) – differently_built (2538) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- usv (2216) – BattlesChess (2388) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense (6… Qa5 7. cxd5) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5
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.