Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation (4… exd5 5. Bg5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional 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. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,340 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 5… Be7 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5… c6 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3)
- ECO
- D35
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/3p2B1/3P4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 102 | |
| 1500-1999 | 841 | |
| 2000+ | 1,397 | |
| All | 2,340 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Be7 | 1,107 (47%) | |
| 5… c6 Exchange Variation, Positional Variation (5. Bg5 c6) | 766 (33%) | |
| 5… Bb4 | 205 (9%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 116 (5%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 51 (2%) | |
| 5… c5 | 23 (1%) | |
| 5… h6 | 19 (1%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 18 (1%) |
Master games
5,062 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 23%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789) 0-1 · Magnus Carlsen Inv KO · 2021-03-19
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789) 0-1 · Magnus Carlsen Inv KO · 2021-03-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2789) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-14
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2751) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) 0-1 · 31st Sigeman & Co TB · 2026-05-07
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) 0-1 · Chess.com Open Playoffs · 2026-04-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM cutemouse83 (2966) – NM Andrey11976 (2804) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM rychessmaster1 (2722) – GM cutemouse83 (2960) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM ManiacalZerker (2793) – Sunrise34 (2857) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation (3… d5 4. cxd5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation (5. Bg5 c6) D35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Carlsen Variation D35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bg4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Chameleon Variation D35 · 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
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.