Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense (2. c4 Nc6)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D07, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 14,515 times by this move order. White won 53%, 4% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.44 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 dxc4)
- ECO
- D07
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp1pppp/2n5/3p4/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5,622 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7,614 | |
| 2000+ | 1,279 | |
| All | 14,515 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 Chigorin Defense (2… Nc6 3. Nc3) | 5,552 (38%) | |
| 3. cxd5 | 3,274 (23%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 3,215 (22%) | |
| 3. e3 | 1,761 (12%) | |
| 3. c5 | 270 (2%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 194 (1%) | |
| 3. g3 | 88 (1%) | |
| 3. e4 | 49 (0%) |
Master games
389 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 17%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 14.24 (3535) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – Ethereal 14.24 (3535) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) – Stockfish dev16_202209170930 (3611) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- Stockfish dev16_202209170930 (3611) – Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (2608) – GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2641) 0-1 · SCO National Chess Online · 2020-09-26
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Chigorinez (2721) – GM jncool68 (2713) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FM stanbad1 (2679) – IM Chigorinez (2703) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Robert_E2009 (2588) – IM Chigorinez (2719) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit 1. d4 d5 2. c4
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense (2… Nc6 3. Nc3) D07 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense, Exchange Variation D07 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. cxd5 Qxd5
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense, Lazard Gambit D07 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Chigorin Defense, Main Line D07 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4
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.