Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation, Reynolds' Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. d5
The Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation, Reynolds' Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D48, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. d5. It is a line of the Semi-Slav Defense. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.05 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 10… c4 11. Bc2 Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Ng5)
- ECO
- D48
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/3n1ppp/p3pn2/1ppP4/4P3/2NB1N2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 10- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
44 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 21%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Evgeny Postny (2651) – GM Richard Rapport (2577) 0-1 · 40th TCh-GRE 2012 · 2012-07-02
- GM Alon Greenfeld (2545) – GM Ivan Popov (2652) 0-1 · 2nd Hyderabad GM Open 2013 · 2013-11-29
- GM Alexey Sarana (2668) – GM Balaji Daggupati (2507) 1-0 · Airthings Masters Play-In · 2023-02-03
- GM Jianchao Zhou (2589) – IM Qingnan Liu (2523) 1-0 · ch-CHN 2015 · 2015-05-28
- GM Fernando Peralta (2580) – IM Gukesh D (2497) 0-1 · Gibraltar Masters 2019 · 2019-01-30
Comes from
Semi-Slav Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6
More Semi-Slav Defense lines (all)
- Semi-Slav Defense: Quiet Variation (4… e6 5. Nbd2) D30
- Semi-Slav Defense: Quiet Variation (5. Nbd2 Nbd7) D30
- Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Move Order D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Anti-Noteboom, Stonewall Variation D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Anti-Noteboom, Stonewall Variation, Portisch Gambit D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Gunderam Gambit D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Marshall Gambit D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Marshall Gambit, Forgotten Variation D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Marshall Gambit, Main Line D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Marshall Gambit, Tolush Variation D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Noteboom Variation D31
- Semi-Slav Defense: Noteboom Variation, Abrahams Variation D31
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.