Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5
The Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO D10, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5. It is a line of the Slav Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 325 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4. cxd5 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.39 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4. dxe5 d4 5. Ne4 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Qxe5)
- ECO
- D10
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/2p5/3pp3/2PP4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 40 | |
| 1500-1999 | 157 | |
| 2000+ | 128 | |
| All | 325 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. cxd5 | 115 (35%) | |
| 4. dxe5 | 115 (35%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 50 (15%) | |
| 4. e3 | 33 (10%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 4 (1%) | |
| 4. e4 Winawer Countergambit, Anti-Winawer Gambit | 4 (1%) | |
| 4. g3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. f3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
155 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 22%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Quang Liem Le (2693) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2769) 1-0 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
- GM Alexander Riazantsev (2594) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2653) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Premier 2026 · 2026-05-04
- GM Denis Khismatullin (2673) – GM Boris Kharchenko (2483) 1/2-1/2 · Moscow Open A 2015 · 2015-02-06
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2648) – IM Axel Smith (2503) 1/2-1/2 · Hasselbacken Open 2016 · 2016-05-04
- GM Bukavshin, I. (2517) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2605) 1/2-1/2 · Corporation Cup 2013 · 2013-07-18
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fide_MaSk (2737) – LuisEQuesadaPerez (2809) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Juan_Delasala (2742) – Barry_Lindon (2563) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- AeroTraining (2639) – Barry_Lindon (2603) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense (2… c6 3. Nc3) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3
Continuations
- Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit, Anti-Winawer Gambit D10 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e4
More Slav Defense lines (all)
- Slav Defense (2. c4 c6) 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: 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.