Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation (2. Nc3 d5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5
The Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 21,452 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Bf4 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Na6 5. e3 Be7)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3p4/3P4/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,980 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10,162 | |
| 2000+ | 6,310 | |
| All | 21,452 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Bf4 | 10,622 (50%) | |
| 3. e4 Hübsch Gambit | 3,937 (18%) | |
| 3. Bg5 Richter-Veresov Attack (2… d5 3. Bg5) | 3,159 (15%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 1,935 (9%) | |
| 3. f3 | 668 (3%) | |
| 3. e3 | 500 (2%) | |
| 3. g3 | 151 (1%) | |
| 3. h3 | 150 (1%) |
Master games
15,216 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) 0-1 · Clutch Chess: Champions · 2025-10-27
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Feb Late · 2025-02-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2789) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-14
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Gukesh D (2787) 1-0 · 13th Norway Chess 2025 · 2025-05-26
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2767) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 0-1 · SpeedChess Final 2024 · 2024-09-08
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM athena-pallada (2931) – Tempstream (2690) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2928) – josedavid321 (2654) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2882) – Kruciatos (2680) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) 1. d4 Nf6
Continuations
- Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack A45 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Qd3
- Queen's Pawn Game: Hübsch Gambit D00 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4
- Richter-Veresov Attack (2… d5 3. Bg5) D01 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5
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: 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
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack, Grünfeld Variation 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.