Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line is a chess opening classified as ECO D55, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 209 times by this move order. White won 42%, 11% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nbd7 (21% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 52; best line 6… h6 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4)
- ECO
- D55
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1bppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R b KQ - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 43 | |
| 2000+ | 166 | |
| All | 209 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nbd7 Orthodox Defense | 44 (21%) | |
| 6… b6 | 40 (19%) | |
| 6… h6 Neo-Orthodox Variation (6. e3 h6) | 35 (17%) | |
| 6… c6 | 32 (15%) | |
| 6… a6 | 25 (12%) | |
| 6… c5 | 16 (8%) | |
| 6… dxc4 | 9 (4%) | |
| 6… Ne4 | 4 (2%) |
Master games
217 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 21%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2624) – GM Luka Lenic (2639) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Alexey Sarana (2699) – GM Maciej Klekowski (2477) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 5th Mar Early · 2024-03-05
- GM Sanan Sjugirov (2663) – GM Giga Quparadze (2476) 1-0 · Speed Chess GP2 2021 · 2021-09-25
- IM Ramis Kurbedinov (2309) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2733) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2017 · 2017-10-05
- IM Artur Davtyan (2458) – GM Karen H. Grigoryan (2572) 1/2-1/2 · 85th ch-ARM HL 2025 · 2025-01-21
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Spiegelstufe (2554) – FM Karlos_ulsk (2651) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- JAGMM (2640) – Abatronic (2514) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- JAGMM (2641) – ScalelessStockfish (2416) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation (3… d5 4. Nc3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Neo-Orthodox Variation (6. e3 h6) D55 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense D60 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7
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.