Slav Defense: Süchting Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Qb6
The Slav Defense: Süchting Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D15, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Qb6. 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 12 times by this move order. White won 58%, 0% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5. c5 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.65 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 5. Qc2 e6 6. e3 Qc7 7. b3 b6)
- ECO
- D15
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/pp2pppp/1qp2n2/3p4/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 4 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Qb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 12 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. c5 | 6 (50%) | |
| 5. cxd5 | 3 (25%) | |
| 5. e3 | 3 (25%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 63%, draw 20%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2719) – GM Richard Rapport (2721) 0-1 · TechM GCL 2024 · 2024-10-03
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2656) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) 1-0 · World Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-29
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2744) – IM Zbigniew Pakleza (2498) 1-0 · European Rapid 2014 · 2014-12-20
- GM Daniil Dubov (2702) – GM Zbigniew Pakleza (2499) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Aug Late · 2022-08-23
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2679) – GM Zbigniew Pakleza (2504) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 29th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-29
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Süchting Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Faustalba (2270) – dani_rip3 (2307) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- GUVOLLEY (2223) – Vinodanand (2103) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- JaguarME (2104) – Korenwolf (2120) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
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.