Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense, Makogonov Exchange Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense, Makogonov Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D59, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 10 times by this move order. White won 30%, 10% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 9. Bxe7 (90% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.05 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. b3 Be6)
- ECO
- D59
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/p1p1bpp1/1p2p2p/3n4/3P3B/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 10 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Bxe7 | 9 (90%) | |
| 9. Nxd5 | 1 (10%) |
Master games
58 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 28%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Donchenko (2627) – GM Luis Paulo Supi (2608) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel Challengers · 2023-01-18
- IM Ilia Martinovici (2480) – GM Ortik Nigmatov (2455) 0-1 · 5th Bella Italia Master · 2026-08-20
- FM Srihari L R (2414) – IM Artur Davtyan (2466) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Aug 10am · 2020-08-04
- IM Mihnea Costachi (2471) – IM Matias Perez Gormaz (2404) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 24th Aug · 2021-08-24
- IM Ege Koksal (2316) – GM Andrew Tang (2524) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Sep Late · 2024-09-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- albatrosss123 (2494) – FastCavalier (2558) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- ton61820 (2535) – isk07 (2350) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- I_hate_chess10 (2302) – gaviacula (2399) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Declined: Charousek Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense (11. Rc1 Be6) D59 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 Be6
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.