Tarrasch Defense: Prague Variation, Main Line

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7

The Tarrasch Defense: Prague Variation, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO D34, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7. It is a line of the Tarrasch 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 73 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O (92% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 c4 10. Ne5 Be6)

ECO: D34
Moves: 14 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/pp2bppp/2n2n2/2pp4/3P4/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 3 8
PGN: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
1500-1999	9	22%78%
2000+	64	50%42%
All	73	47%47%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
8. O-O	67 (92%)	46%46%
8. dxc5	4 (5%)	50%50%
8. Bg5	1 (1%)	100%
8. Be3	1 (1%)	100%

Master games

43 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 21%, Black 35%). The strongest:

IM Kirill Klukin (2413) – GM Ivan Morovic Fernandez (2495) 1-0 · Titled Tue 14th May Early · 2024-05-14
GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) – FM Alexander Zlatin (2324) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 14th Jun Early · 2022-06-14
FM Cristian-Gabriel Voiteanu (2269) – IM Thomas Fiebig (2414) 1-0 · 11th Kesarovski-Stanchev Mem · 2012-09-06
FM Robert Ernst (2401) – FM Vladimir Vojtek (2227) 1-0 · 37th Czech Open E 2026 · 2026-07-18
Vaclav Zidek (2189) – IM Thomas Fiebig (2414) 0-1 · 11th Kesarovski-Stanchev Mem · 2012-09-04

Search all games of the Tarrasch Defense: Prague Variation, Main Line and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

omariscof (2546) – Boreminator (2555) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
FM BorisNavrodskiy (2514) – Boreminator (2564) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
DueBidoni (2537) – DLR_CH_1 (2525) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Tarrasch Defense: Prague Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6

Continuations

Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation D34 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O

More Tarrasch Defense lines (all)

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.