Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation (3… d5 4. cxd5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D35, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,304 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4… exd5 (79% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 4… exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4)
- ECO
- D35
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3P4/3P4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 361 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,078 | |
| 2000+ | 1,865 | |
| All | 4,304 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… exd5 | 3,411 (79%) | |
| 4… Nxd5 | 837 (19%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 22 (1%) | |
| 4… c6 | 12 (0%) | |
| 4… c5 | 9 (0%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 7 (0%) | |
| 4… b6 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
1,710 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 27%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2756) 1-0 · Meltwater Tour Final 2021 · 2021-09-25
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) – GM Anish Giri (2782) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2786) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2793) 1-0 · 5th Classic KO 2013 · 2013-12-15
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
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
Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation (4… exd5 5. Bg5) D35 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5
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.