Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack (8… a6 9. Qc2)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. a3 a6 9. Qc2

Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Attack after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. a3 a6 9. Qc2 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. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. a3 a6 9. Qc2. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black 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: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9… h6 10. Bh4 Re8 11. h3 dxc4 12. Bxc4)

ECO
D64
Moves
17 plies
FEN
r1bq1rk1/1p1nbppp/p1p1pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/P1N1PN2/1PQ2PPP/2R1KB1R b K - 1 9
PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. a3 a6 9. Qc2

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

Comes from

Indian Defense: Normal Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4

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.