Slav Defense: Alapin Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4
The Slav Defense: Alapin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D16, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4. It is a line of the Slav Defense. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 448 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bf5 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5)
- ECO
- D16
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/8/P1pP4/2N2N2/1P2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8 | |
| 1500-1999 | 106 | |
| 2000+ | 334 | |
| All | 448 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bf5 Czech Variation | 304 (68%) | |
| 5… e6 Soultanbeieff Variation | 40 (9%) | |
| 5… Bg4 Steiner Variation | 29 (6%) | |
| 5… Nd5 | 23 (5%) | |
| 5… Na6 Smyslov Variation | 11 (2%) | |
| 5… a6 | 8 (2%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 8 (2%) | |
| 5… a5 | 7 (2%) |
Master games
143 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 25%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2812) – GM Baadur Jobava (2707) 1-0 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2017-07-01
- GM Levon Aronian (2793) – GM Baadur Jobava (2707) 1-0 · GCT Rapid YourNextMove · 2017-06-28
- GM David Navara (2739) – GM Baadur Jobava (2713) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-FRA Top 12 2017 · 2017-05-21
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) – GM Baadur Jobava (2603) 0-1 · Ville d'Orsay On/L Blitz · 2021-02-07
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2692) – GM Dragan Solak (2641) 1/2-1/2 · 11th World Teams 2017 · 2017-06-23
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Alapin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vahe_S (2758) – KhatanbaatarGM (2712) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- AyaSen77 (2780) – shortparis (2640) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Con_Knuppel (2640) – FM kirill_kopyonkin (2618) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Czech Variation D17 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5
- Slav Defense: Smyslov Variation D16 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Na6
- Slav Defense: Soultanbeieff Variation D16 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6
- Slav Defense: Steiner Variation D16 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bg4
More Slav Defense lines (all)
- Slav Defense (2. c4 c6) D10
- Slav Defense (2… c6 3. Nc3) D10
- Slav Defense (3. Nc3 dxc4) D10
- 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 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
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.