Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Heral Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Heral Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D53, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 685 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bxf6 (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.09 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 5… Bxf6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 c6 8. Bd3)
- ECO
- D53
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1bppp/4pB2/3p4/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 153 | |
| 1500-1999 | 463 | |
| 2000+ | 69 | |
| All | 685 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bxf6 | 681 (99%) | |
| 5… O-O | 2 (0%) | |
| 5… gxf6 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
24 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 58%, draw 9%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- FM Alexander Devaev (2325) – CM Tim Kett (2136) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Feb Early · 2022-02-15
- CM Yahya Chelly (2039) – FM Mikayel Manvelyan (2362) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th May Early · 2025-05-20
- CM Rafail Antoniou (2036) – CM Armin Kekic (2138) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Early · 2024-04-16
- CM Yahya Chelly (2039) – CM Cesar Ugarte Soto (2088) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th May Late · 2025-05-13
- Istvan Pajzer (2041) – Mila Soklovacki (1851) 1-0 · 23rd Battle of Senta Open · 2019-07-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM profaVa (2367) – beTalgasse (2347) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- vbch (2313) – Hyper_flow (2308) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- A1D7T (2051) – eugmind (2522) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined (4. Bg5 Be7) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
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.