Semi-Slav Defense: Moscow Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6
The Semi-Slav Defense: Moscow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D43, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6. It is a line of the Semi-Slav Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 34 times by this move order. White won 38%, 15% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. e3 (74% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. e3 g6 8. Be2 Bg7 9. e4 dxe4)
- ECO
- D43
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/pp3pp1/2p1pq1p/3p4/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 21 | |
| All | 34 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. e3 | 25 (74%) | |
| 7. e4 | 3 (9%) | |
| 7. cxd5 | 3 (9%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. a3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. Ne5 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
550 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 35%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) – GM Veselin Topalov (2798) 0-1 · 3rd Norway Chess 2015 · 2015-06-16
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2808) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2816) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 · 2015-08-26
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 0-1 · Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2020-04-19
- GM Yangyi Yu (2750) – GM Anish Giri (2769) 1/2-1/2 · Du Te Cup 2017 · 2017-03-26
Search all games of the Semi-Slav Defense: Moscow Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- XuBofang (2562) – Barry_Lindon (2567) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- XuBofang (2550) – Barry_Lindon (2579) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- kichot (2448) – Sanok-Kasapchuk (2376) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Semi-Slav Defense 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6
Continuations
- Semi-Slav Defense: Hastings Variation D43 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3
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.