Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation (5. e3 Bf5)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5
The Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D15, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5. It is a line of the Slav Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 22 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bd3 (23% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.45 (Stockfish, depth 47; best line 6. Qb3 Ra7 7. Bd2 e6 8. Nh4 dxc4)
- ECO
- D15
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/1p2pppp/p1p2n2/3p1b2/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 22 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bd3 | 5 (23%) | |
| 6. cxd5 | 5 (23%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 3 (14%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 3 (14%) | |
| 6. b3 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. c5 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. Bd2 | 1 (5%) | |
| 6. Ne5 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
319 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 29%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2830) – GM Veselin Topalov (2785) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2014 · 2014-03-25
- GM Boris Gelfand (2738) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 0-1 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
- GM Anish Giri (2777) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2728) 1/2-1/2 · Tolstoy Mem 2021 · 2021-09-12
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2759) – GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2716) 0-1 · Tbilisi FIDE GP 2015 · 2015-02-18
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2723) – GM Richard Rapport (2731) 0-1 · 9th Gashimov Mem Blitz · 2023-12-11
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- RiseP (2731) – Yakamuzosan (2705) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- GrandTichuu (2400) – bournvillewoodpusher (2429) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Dutchpjotr (2352) – WSB (2403) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation (4. Nc3 a6) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6
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.