Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation, Morozevich Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5
The Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation, Morozevich Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D17, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5. 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 15 times by this move order. White won 53%, 0% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 12. Ne3 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 fxg3 14. hxg3 O-O-O)
- ECO
- D17
- Moves
- 22 plies
- FEN
r3kb1r/ppqn1p1p/2p5/4nbp1/P1N2B2/2N3P1/1P2PPBP/R2QK2R w KQkq - 0 12- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 15 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 12. Ne3 | 10 (67%) | |
| 12. Nxe5 | 4 (27%) | |
| 12. Bxe5 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
332 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 27%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2788) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2756) 1/2-1/2 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015 · 2015-04-23
- GM Yangyi Yu (2751) – GM Rauf Mamedov (2709) 1-0 · 2nd IMSA Basque 2017 · 2017-12-15
- GM Yangyi Yu (2751) – GM Rauf Mamedov (2709) 1-0 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-13
- GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2671) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Classic 2022 · 2022-05-14
- GM Gukesh D (2732) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2717) 1-0 · Aimchess Rapid Prelim · 2022-10-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- andy2342 (2608) – FM leonkiller77 (2552) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM Chessbasse16 (2543) – FM luisangel1808 (2529) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- BlindMonster (2497) – Fun4allofus (2523) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5
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.