Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (4. Bg5 Nbd7)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D51, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,309 times by this move order. White won 45%, 5% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 5. e3 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 5. cxd5 exd5 6. e3 Be7 7. Nf3 c6)
- ECO
- D51
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppn1ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R2QKBNR w KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 162 | |
| 1500-1999 | 828 | |
| 2000+ | 319 | |
| All | 1,309 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. e3 Modern Variation, Knight Defense (4… Nbd7 5. e3) | 620 (47%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 360 (28%) | |
| 5. cxd5 | 207 (16%) | |
| 5. e4 | 58 (4%) | |
| 5. c5 | 23 (2%) | |
| 5. a3 | 7 (1%) | |
| 5. f3 | 6 (0%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
354 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 21%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2762) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2641) 1-0 · 2nd Bundesliga Sud 2016-17 · 2016-12-04
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2690) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2599) 0-1 · 27th Abu Dhabi Masters · 2021-12-12
- GM Baadur Jobava (2712) – GM Bartlomiej Heberla (2558) 1-0 · TCh-AUT 2017-18 · 2018-01-19
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2708) – GM Pablo Salinas Herrera (2473) 1-0 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-29
- GM Szymon Gumularz (2625) – GM Jakub Seemann (2543) 1/2-1/2 · 62nd Rubinstein ALREH GM · 2026-08-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM cutemouse83 (2939) – GM Fabsid (2826) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2975) – GM Fabsid (2782) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- satlan (2676) – GM Fabsid (2811) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (4… Nbd7 5. e3) D51 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Alekhine Variation D51 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nf3 c6 6. e4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Rochlin Variation D51 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nf3 c6 6. Rc1 Qa5 7. Bd2
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.