Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O
The Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D19, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O. It is a line of the Slav Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 96 times by this move order. White won 36%, 7% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 8… O-O (71% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8… O-O 9. Nh4 Nbd7 10. Nxf5 exf5 11. Qd3)
- ECO
- D19
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rn1qk2r/pp3ppp/2p1pn2/5b2/PbBP4/2N1PN2/1P3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 2 8- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 81 | |
| All | 96 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… O-O | 68 (71%) | |
| 8… Nbd7 | 24 (25%) | |
| 8… Bxc3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 8… Qa5 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
1,081 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 33%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2805) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Sinquefield Cup 2014 · 2014-08-27
- GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2736) – GM Yue Wang (2697) 0-1 · 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Rapid · 2012-07-08
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2714) – GM Hao Wang (2710) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blitz 2014 · 2014-12-13
- GM Quang Liem Le (2709) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2714) 1-0 · Oslo Esports Cup 2022 · 2022-04-28
- GM Quang Liem Le (2709) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2714) 1/2-1/2 · Oslo Esports Cup 2022 · 2022-04-28
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vahe_S (2758) – KhatanbaatarGM (2712) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FM petrik05 (2694) – IM Chess-Tales (2535) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Lvictor (2452) – GM AtalikS (2627) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System, Main Line D19 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2
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.