Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack (8. Qc2 a6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6

Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6 87654321abcdefgh

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO D64, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 h6 11. Bh4 Re8)

ECO
D64
Moves
16 plies
FEN
r1bq1rk1/1p1nbppp/p1p1pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PPQ2PPP/2R1KB1R w K - 0 9
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 a6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Comes from

Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack (7… c6 8. Qc2) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2

More Queen's Gambit Declined lines (all)

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.