Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6
The Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D15, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6. 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 351 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bg5 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.48 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5. h3 a6 6. Qb3 b5 7. cxd5 cxd5)
- ECO
- D15
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pp1p/2p2np1/3p4/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 41 | |
| 1500-1999 | 178 | |
| 2000+ | 132 | |
| All | 351 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bg5 | 110 (31%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 78 (22%) | |
| 5. cxd5 | 67 (19%) | |
| 5. e3 | 45 (13%) | |
| 5. g3 | 25 (7%) | |
| 5. h3 | 11 (3%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 4 (1%) | |
| 5. h4 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
490 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 25%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Sarana (2654) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2682) 0-1 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2020-09-21
- GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista (2668) – GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez (2623) 1/2-1/2 · V Copa Latinoamericana 2014 · 2014-12-31
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2669) – GM Kacper Piorun (2601) 1-0 · 80th PGNig ch-POL 2023 · 2023-04-18
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2669) – GM Kacper Piorun (2601) 1-0 · 80th PGNig ch-POL 2023 · 2023-04-18
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2668) – GM Robert Kempinski (2597) 0-1 · Najdorf Mem Open A 2014 · 2014-07-16
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- oldandnotcold (2659) – chess_tiger15 (2539) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- puulusikas (2586) – Rafi-2020 (2509) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- RatkoBulajic (2520) – Draw-no (2475) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3
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.