Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Chameleon Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2 Re8 9. Nge2 Nf8 10. O-O-O

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Chameleon Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D35, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2 Re8 9. Nge2 Nf8 10. O-O-O. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: −0.16 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 10… c6 11. Kb1 b5 12. h4 a5 13. Nf4)

ECO

D35

Moves

19 plies

FEN

r1bqrnk1/ppp1bppp/5n2/3p2B1/3P4/2NBP3/PPQ1NPPP/2KR3R b - - 8 10

PGN

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2 Re8 9. Nge2 Nf8 10. O-O-O

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

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.