Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, San Sebastian Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Qa5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense, San Sebastian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D41, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Qa5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 26 times by this move order. White won 42%, 8% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 10. Be2 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.10 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 10. Rb1 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 Qd8 12. Bb5+ Nd7)
- ECO
- D41
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
rnb1k2r/pp3ppp/4p3/q7/1b1PP3/5N2/P2B1PPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 3 10- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Qa5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 17 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 26 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Be2 | 8 (31%) | |
| 10. Bd3 | 7 (27%) | |
| 10. a3 | 5 (19%) | |
| 10. Rb1 | 3 (12%) | |
| 10. Bxb4 | 2 (8%) | |
| 10. Bc4 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 16%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- David Schernthaner (2229) – FM Robert Perhinig (2234) 1-0 · TCh-AUT 2nd Mitte 2021-22 · 2021-10-22
- FM Luca Jr Moroni (2460) – Suren Gesyan (1928) 1-0 · World Youth Boys U16 2015 · 2015-10-28
- Milton Kasuo Okamura (1960) – CM Carlos Evanir Costa (2224) 0-1 · II Niteroi Chess Open · 2022-09-05
- Stanislav Splichal (2128) – Jan Smid (1963) 1/2-1/2 · Stare Mesto Open 2012 · 2012-08-12
- Torsten Miowitz (1858) – Ashur Lalaev (1656) 1-0 · Lichtenberger Sommer 2018 · 2018-08-21
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sinisaaa (2259) – ninjago_chess (2248) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Sinisaaa (2265) – ninjago_chess (2242) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Fanta-4 (2242) – Antonchempion (2239) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6
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.