Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (1… d5 2. Nc3)
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3
The Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D00, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. Black is to move. 7 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 130,050 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nf6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 64; best line 2… Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Na6 5. e3)
- ECO
- D00
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/3P4/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 68,988 | |
| 1500-1999 | 51,967 | |
| 2000+ | 9,095 | |
| All | 130,050 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nf6 | 59,066 (45%) | |
| 2… e6 Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 e6) | 25,532 (20%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 13,890 (11%) | |
| 2… c6 | 11,950 (9%) | |
| 2… Bf5 Chigorin Variation, Alburt Defense | 10,191 (8%) | |
| 2… c5 Chigorin Variation, Irish Gambit | 3,618 (3%) | |
| 2… e5 Chigorin Variation, Shaviliuk Gambit | 1,119 (1%) | |
| 2… g6 | 886 (1%) |
Master games
2,818 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 16%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-28
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-28
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2784) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2803) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Tal Mem Blitz · 2013-06-12
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2784) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2774) 1-0 · 8th Tal Mem Blitz · 2013-06-12
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2784) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2753) 1-0 · 8th Tal Mem Blitz · 2013-06-12
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM PchelkinVK (2660) – GM cutemouse83 (2924) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- CrashTestTIA (2653) – barteljaap-jan (2917) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Alisherkaaaa (2735) – GM Fabsid (2813) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d5) 1. d4 d5
Continuations
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 e6) D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e6
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Alburt Defense D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Bf5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Anti-Veresov D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Bg4
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Irish Gambit D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Shaviliuk Gambit D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Shropshire Defense D00 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 h5
- Rapport-Jobava System (2… Nf6 3. Bf4) D01 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4
More Queen's Pawn Game lines (all)
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4) A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Anglo-Slav Opening A40
- Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense A40
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Rossolimo Variation A41
- Queen's Pawn Game: Liedmann Gambit A43
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 d5) A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov, Richter Attack A45
- Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack, Breyer Variation A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov Attack, Classical Defense A46
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (3… d5 4. Bf4) A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack (4. Bf4 Bg7) A48
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.