Slav Defense: Exchange Variation (2… c6 3. cxd5)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5
The Slav Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D10, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5. It is a line of the Slav Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11,040 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 3… cxd5 (92% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 3… cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3)
- ECO
- D10
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3P4/3P4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,326 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6,058 | |
| 2000+ | 2,656 | |
| All | 11,040 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… cxd5 | 10,167 (92%) | |
| 3… Qxd5 | 631 (6%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 130 (1%) | |
| 3… Qa5+ | 43 (0%) | |
| 3… e6 | 34 (0%) | |
| 3… c5 | 16 (0%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 6 (0%) | |
| 3… Qd6 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
11,438 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 36%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- Fire 8_beta (3729) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-12
- Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – Fire 8_beta (3729) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-09
- Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) – Igel 3.0.10 (3495) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-12
- Igel 3.0.10 (3495) – Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-10
- Ethereal TCEC S20 DivP (3482) – ScorpioNN 3.0.11 (3496) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-12-30
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2808) – GM sillyMASTER (2855) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NM Andrey11976 (2786) – SavitarTheGodOfSpeed (2747) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- spartak20 (2732) – SavitarTheGodOfSpeed (2730) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense (2. c4 c6) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Boor Attack D10 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. f3
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Symmetrical Line D14 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5
More Slav Defense lines (all)
- Slav Defense (2… c6 3. Nc3) D10
- Slav Defense (3. Nc3 dxc4) D10
- Slav Defense: Diemer Gambit 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
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5. Bg2 g6) D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5… e6 6. O-O) D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (5… Nbd7 6. c4) 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.