Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation (2… c6 3. b3)
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3
The Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A12, reached after 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3. It is a line of the Réti Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 466 times by this move order. White won 52%, 6% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.04 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 3… Bg4 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. O-O)
- ECO
- A12
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3p4/2P5/1P3N2/P2PPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 27 | |
| 1500-1999 | 199 | |
| 2000+ | 240 | |
| All | 466 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 284 (61%) | |
| 3… Bf5 Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation (3. b3 Bf5) | 54 (12%) | |
| 3… e6 | 52 (11%) | |
| 3… Bg4 Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation (3. b3 Bg4) | 32 (7%) | |
| 3… dxc4 | 11 (2%) | |
| 3… g6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 3… Nd7 | 6 (1%) | |
| 3… f6 | 6 (1%) |
Master games
626 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 20%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Vahap Sanal (2581) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 21st July · 2020-07-21
- GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2706) – GM Anton Korobov (2636) 1-0 · Titled Tue 26th Nov Early · 2024-11-26
- GM Romain Edouard (2659) – GM Pavel V. Tregubov (2607) 0-1 · 18th Oscaro.com Open 2014 · 2014-10-18
- GM Yifan Hou (2651) – GM Mariya Muzychuk (2546) 1-0 · Gibraltar Masters 2017 · 2017-01-27
- GM Romain Edouard (2659) – GM Valentina Gunina (2530) 0-1 · 3rd Karpov Trophy Blitz · 2014-10-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM tontonflingueur (2671) – Nenidon_Andriy (2511) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- milyutinroman (2534) – GoldenFirebird (2615) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Ekvip (2461) – FM Karlos_ulsk (2644) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Réti Opening 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4
Continuations
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation (3. b3 Bg4) A12 · 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Bg4
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Bogoljubow Variation (3. b3 Bf5) A12 · 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Bf5
More Réti Opening lines (all)
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation A09
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Michel Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Advance Variation, Navara Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Penguin Variation A09
- Réti Opening: Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Réti Accepted A09
- Réti Opening: Réti Gambit, Keres Variation A09
- Réti Opening: Zilbermints Gambit A09
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (2… d5 3. e3) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (3… Nf6 4. Qc2) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (4… Nbd7 5. Qc2) A11
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (5. b3 e5) A11
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.