Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Krause Attack
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5
The Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Krause Attack 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. It is a line of the Slav Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 107 times by this move order. White won 53%, 7% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nbd7 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6… Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. e3)
- ECO
- D17
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/4Nb2/P1pP4/2N5/1P2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 14 | |
| 2000+ | 92 | |
| All | 107 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nbd7 | 59 (55%) | |
| 6… e6 Czech Variation, Wiesbaden Variation | 38 (36%) | |
| 6… Na6 | 7 (7%) | |
| 6… Qc7 | 2 (2%) | |
| 6… c5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
1,307 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 29%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- GM Levon Aronian (2792) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2770) 1-0 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-20
- GM Levon Aronian (2803) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2745) 1/2-1/2 · SportAccord Blitz Men 2013 · 2013-12-15
- GM Levon Aronian (2765) – GM Richard Rapport (2776) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Classic 2022 · 2022-05-05
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Krause Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- 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
- C01B01 (2609) – Nodrawww (2574) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Czech Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Wiesbaden Variation D17 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6
- Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Krause Attack, Fazekas Gambit D17 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Na6 7. e4
- Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation D17 · 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.