Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense (4… c5 5. cxd5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D41, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5. 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 215 times by this move order. White won 47%, 9% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxd5 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.09 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 5… cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3)
- ECO
- D41
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/4pn2/2pP4/3P4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 69 | |
| 2000+ | 135 | |
| All | 215 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxd5 | 99 (46%) | |
| 5… exd5 | 71 (33%) | |
| 5… cxd4 | 44 (20%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
761 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 43%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2775) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 0-1 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-28
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2865) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters KO 2022 · 2022-02-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM So, W. (2770) 1/2-1/2 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM Anish Giri (2761) 1-0 · 10th Norway Chess 2022 · 2022-06-03
- GM Levon Aronian (2759) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2861) 0-1 · Julius Baer GenCup KO · 2022-09-22
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2792) – BILLYS10 (2753) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2794) – BILLYS10 (2748) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2800) – NameTheGame (2718) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense (4. Nc3 c5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense (5… Nxd5 6. g3) D41 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. g3
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Exchange Variation (5… Nxd5 6. e4) D41 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Pillsbury Variation (5… Nxd5 6. e3) D41 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e3
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, Endgame Variation D41 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. e4 dxe4 8. Qxd8+
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.