Slav Defense (2… c6 3. Nc3)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3
The Slav Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D10, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 51,706 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… dxc4 4. e3 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Ne4)
- ECO
- D10
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3p4/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 10,688 | |
| 1500-1999 | 31,294 | |
| 2000+ | 9,724 | |
| All | 51,706 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 30,061 (58%) | |
| 3… e6 | 9,833 (19%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 5,641 (11%) | |
| 3… dxc4 Slav Defense (3. Nc3 dxc4) | 2,643 (5%) | |
| 3… a6 | 814 (2%) | |
| 3… g6 | 690 (1%) | |
| 3… Bg4 | 333 (1%) | |
| 3… e5 Winawer Countergambit | 325 (1%) |
Master games
15,612 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 25%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) – Integral 7.0.0-dev-453c1dc4 (3735) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-11
- Integral 7.0.0-dev-453c1dc4 (3735) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-09
- LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-28
- Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-28
- Berserk13 (3540) – Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fide_MaSk (2737) – LuisEQuesadaPerez (2809) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GeForceExperience (2608) – kuhmft (2889) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- satlan (2680) – Italiangangster (2744) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense (2. c4 c6) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
Continuations
- Slav Defense (3. Nc3 dxc4) D10 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4
- Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit D10 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5
- Semi-Slav Defense: Main Line (4… e6 5. Nf3) D45 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3
- Grünfeld Defense: Flohr Defense D94 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Bf5
- Grünfeld Defense: Smyslov Defense D94 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Bg4
- Semi-Slav Defense: Meran Variation, Rellstab Attack D49 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 axb5 13. O-O Qd5 14. Qe2 Ba6 15. Bg5
More Slav Defense lines (all)
- Slav Defense: Diemer Gambit D10
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation (2… c6 3. cxd5) D10
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Boor Attack D10
- Slav Defense: Slav Gambit, Alekhine Attack D10
- Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit, Anti-Winawer Gambit D10
- Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit D11
- Slav Defense: Breyer Variation D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (2… c6 3. Nf3) D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5. Bg2 g6) D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5… e6 6. O-O) D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5… Nbd7 6. c4) D11
- Slav Defense: Quiet Variation D11
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.