Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D60, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 44 times by this move order. White won 34%, 14% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bd3 (25% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxd5 exd5)
- ECO
- D60
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppnbppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 36 | |
| All | 44 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bd3 Orthodox Defense, Botvinnik Variation (6… Nbd7 7. Bd3) | 11 (25%) | |
| 7. cxd5 | 11 (25%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 10 (23%) | |
| 7. Rc1 Orthodox Defense, Main Line (6… Nbd7 7. Rc1) | 8 (18%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. Rb1 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. c5 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7. Qb3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
89 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 26%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2757) 1-0 · Magnus Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2021-03-14
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2737) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2773) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 3m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-06
- GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2731) – GM Viorel Iordachescu (2584) 1/2-1/2 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-04
- GM Aleksandar Indjic (2618) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2682) 0-1 · PNWCC Masters WOO 2020 · 2020-07-04
- GM Leandro Krysa (2527) – GM Varuzhan Akobian (2614) 1/2-1/2 · Am. World Cup QGp3 · 2021-05-28
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Neftegor (2498) – Saeidbero (2497) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- F2-freestyle (2438) – bedazzle99 (2411) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Montibasto (2385) – Maestro_del_Ajedrez (2278) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Botvinnik Variation (6… Nbd7 7. Bd3) D60 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Main Line (6… Nbd7 7. Rc1) D63 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation, Flohr Line D62 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 c5 8. cxd5
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.