Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4)
1. d4
The Queen's Pawn Game is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4. Black is to move. 15 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,195,123 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 1… d5 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 1… Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,167,573 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,582,373 | |
| 2000+ | 445,177 | |
| All | 3,195,123 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… d5 Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d5) | 1,446,959 (45%) | |
| 1… Nf6 Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) | 589,974 (18%) | |
| 1… e6 Horwitz Defense | 291,289 (9%) | |
| 1… e5 Englund Gambit | 208,673 (7%) | |
| 1… g6 Modern Defense | 129,479 (4%) | |
| 1… c6 | 122,437 (4%) | |
| 1… d6 Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) | 113,687 (4%) | |
| 1… c5 Old Benoni (1. d4 c5) | 104,515 (3%) |
Master games
10,373 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 62%, draw 10%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- Stockfish 202004181536 (3851) – Winter 0.7.4 (3495) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-24
- Winter 0.7.4 (3495) – Stockfish 202004181536 (3851) 0-1 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-24
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Jul Late · 2023-07-11
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2733) 1-0 · SpeedChess Final 2024 · 2024-09-06
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-20
Search all games of the Queen's Pawn Game and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (3017) – Nana_jede_cevape (2861) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GM gmbrewchess (2993) – Nana_jede_cevape (2878) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2876) – GM gmbrewchess (2995) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- Australian Defense A40 · 1. d4 Na6
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1. d4 c5) A43 · 1. d4 c5
- Borg Defense: Borg Gambit (1. d4 g5) A40 · 1. d4 g5
- Dutch Defense (1. d4 f5) A80 · 1. d4 f5
- English Defense (1. d4 b6) A40 · 1. d4 b6
- Englund Gambit A40 · 1. d4 e5
- Horwitz Defense A40 · 1. d4 e6
- Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) A45 · 1. d4 Nf6
- Mikenas Defense A40 · 1. d4 Nc6
- Polish Defense A40 · 1. d4 b5
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d6) A41 · 1. d4 d6
- Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4 d5) D00 · 1. d4 d5
- Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense A40 · 1. d4 g6
- Queen's Pawn Game: Anglo-Slav Opening A40 · 1. d4 c6 2. c4 d6
- Slav Indian: Kudischewitsch Gambit A40 · 1. d4 c6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 b5
More Queen's Pawn Game lines (all)
- 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
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack, Grünfeld Variation A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Barry Attack, Tarzan Attack A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack, Grünfeld Variation, Main Line A48
- Queen's Pawn Game: Veresov Attack, Dutch System A80
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.