Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5
The Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D02, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5. It is a line of the Queen's Pawn Game. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11,247 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3. e3 (28% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. c4 cxd4 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Qxd4 Qxd5)
- ECO
- D02
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/2pp4/3P4/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,338 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,939 | |
| 2000+ | 1,970 | |
| All | 11,247 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. e3 | 3,104 (28%) | |
| 3. c3 | 2,114 (19%) | |
| 3. dxc5 | 1,647 (15%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 1,558 (14%) | |
| 3. c4 | 1,053 (9%) | |
| 3. g3 | 671 (6%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 441 (4%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 323 (3%) |
Master games
1,974 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 25%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-13
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-04-13
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-25
- Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-25
- LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-23
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Fabsid (2807) – DikiyDjo (2699) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- khvichachess (2660) – IM filolog (2712) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- DiabloDiabloDiablo (2644) – DikiyDjo (2687) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (1… d5 2. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3
Continuations
- Queen's Pawn Game: Chandler Gambit D02 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Bg2
- Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation (4… e6 5. b3) D05 · 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nbd2 e6 5. b3
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.