Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D50, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 14,523 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4… Be7 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… Be7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qc2)
- ECO
- D50
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 3 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,465 | |
| 1500-1999 | 9,016 | |
| 2000+ | 3,042 | |
| All | 14,523 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Be7 Queen's Gambit Declined (4. Bg5 Be7) | 9,243 (64%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 1,379 (9%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 Modern Variation, Knight Defense (4. Bg5 Nbd7) | 1,309 (9%) | |
| 4… c6 | 946 (7%) | |
| 4… h6 | 531 (4%) | |
| 4… dxc4 | 447 (3%) | |
| 4… c5 Been-Koomen Variation | 349 (2%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 118 (1%) |
Master games
1,131 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 23%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 14.06 (3532) – Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-19
- Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) – Ethereal 14.06 (3532) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-16
- Fire 8_beta (3457) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3504) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-04
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3504) – Fire 8_beta (3457) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-08-31
- GM Alexey Sarana (2691) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Sep 2025 · 2025-09-02
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation and its sub-variations
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
- Superstitions_Guy (2767) – CM titanshahmat2003 (2729) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined (4. Bg5 Be7) D53 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Been-Koomen Variation D50 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c5
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Knight Defense (4. Bg5 Nbd7) D51 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Fianchetto Variation D66 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 O-O 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5
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.