Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nf3 Nc6)
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6
The Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D02, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 53,169 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3. e3 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.50 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. c4 e6 4. a3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7)
- ECO
- D02
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp1pppp/2n5/3p4/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 30,895 | |
| 1500-1999 | 20,554 | |
| 2000+ | 1,720 | |
| All | 53,169 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. e3 | 15,495 (29%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 14,207 (27%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 7,446 (14%) | |
| 3. c4 | 4,583 (9%) | |
| 3. g3 | 3,881 (7%) | |
| 3. c3 | 2,325 (4%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 1,918 (4%) | |
| 3. h3 | 760 (1%) |
Master games
2,229 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 16%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2753) – GM Levon Aronian (2742) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-05
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2704) – GM Richard Rapport (2763) 0-1 · FIDE Grand Prix 1 Pool B · 2022-02-10
- GM Luka Lenic (2639) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2711) 0-1 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Vitaly Kunin (2584) – GM Richard Rapport (2720) 1/2-1/2 · GRENKE Chess Open 2016 · 2016-03-28
- GM Tamas Banusz (2612) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2641) 1/2-1/2 · 25th TCh-CRO Div 1a 2016 · 2016-10-14
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Americanchampion (2817) – GreenMile2025 (2793) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GoldenFirebird (2637) – ALBING0 (2582) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- civotnezc (2629) – ALBING0 (2581) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (1… d5 2. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3
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.