Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation (4. Nc3 a6)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6
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. It is a line of the Slav Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 394 times by this move order. White won 50%, 9% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 5. cxd5 (21% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5. c5 b6 6. cxb6 Nbd7 7. a3 Qxb6)
- ECO
- D15
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/1p2pppp/p1p2n2/3p4/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 16 | |
| 1500-1999 | 119 | |
| 2000+ | 259 | |
| All | 394 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. cxd5 | 84 (21%) | |
| 5. e3 | 72 (18%) | |
| 5. c5 Chebanenko Variation, Advance System | 72 (18%) | |
| 5. a4 | 51 (13%) | |
| 5. Bg5 | 48 (12%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 28 (7%) | |
| 5. g3 | 23 (6%) | |
| 5. Qc2 | 6 (2%) |
Master games
2,057 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 32%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-16
- Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) – Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-13
- Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-07
- AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-04
- Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) – Berserk 20230311 (3476) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-18
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM AtalikS (2642) – GM xiaochess (2934) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- RiseP (2731) – Yakamuzosan (2705) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- RiseP (2723) – Yakamuzosan (2700) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation, Advance System D15 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. c5
- Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation (5. e3 Bf5) D15 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5
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.