Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D30, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 755 times by this move order. White won 52%, 7% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 4… Be7 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4… dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. e3 Be7 7. Qxc4)
- ECO
- D30
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RN1QKB1R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 64 | |
| 1500-1999 | 393 | |
| 2000+ | 298 | |
| All | 755 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Be7 | 412 (55%) | |
| 4… Bb4+ Vienna Variation | 66 (9%) | |
| 4… dxc4 | 57 (8%) | |
| 4… h6 Capablanca Variation (4. Bg5 h6) | 55 (7%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 52 (7%) | |
| 4… c6 | 52 (7%) | |
| 4… c5 | 46 (6%) | |
| 4… b6 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
895 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 28%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2790) – GM Liren Ding (2812) 1/2-1/2 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2019 · 2019-04-07
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM Anish Giri (2783) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2018 · 2018-12-27
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Rapid · 2018-11-10
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) – GM So, W. (2780) 1-0 · 6th Sinquefield Cup 2018 · 2018-08-18
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2753) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2018-11-13
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- firstJuly2024 (2707) – nolooz (2579) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Field6820 (2474) – anhbutk (2653) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- lackbiTe65 (2582) – Turlov (2518) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation (4. Bg5 h6) D30 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 h6
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna Variation D30 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Bb4+
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.