Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation (9. Bd3 Re8)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 a6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Re8

Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 a6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Re8 87654321abcdefgh

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D61, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 a6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Re8. 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: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 10. O-O h6 11. Bh4 c6 12. Rae1 a5)

ECO
D61
Moves
18 plies
FEN
r1bqr1k1/1ppnbppp/p4n2/3p2B1/3P4/2NBPN2/PPQ2PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 2 10
PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 a6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Re8

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

Comes from

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