Tarrasch Defense: Wagner Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Bg4
The Tarrasch Defense: Wagner Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D33, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Bg4. It is a line of the Tarrasch Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 8. O-O (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.75 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. dxc5 Bxc3+)
- ECO
- D33
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/pp3ppp/2n2n2/2pp4/3P2b1/2N2NP1/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 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. O-O | 2 (50%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 1 (25%) | |
| 8. dxc5 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 0%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Hans Tikkanen (2525) – Lennart Wahlstrom (2153) 1-0 · Deltalift Open 2016 · 2016-05-07
- IM Marcus Vinicius Moreira Santos (2329) – Francisco Dejeanne (2269) 1-0 · 4th ITT LXSBC 2015 · 2015-07-29
- Dara Akdag (2278) – Lennart Wahlstrom (2105) 0-1 · Xtracon GM 2013 · 2013-10-14
- Conny Holst (2177) – Lennart Wahlstrom (2133) 1-0 · Deltalift Open 2014 · 2014-05-31
- Sven Degerfeldt (1929) – Lennart Wahlstrom (2105) 0-1 · Xtracon GM 2013 · 2013-10-20
Search all games of the Tarrasch Defense: Wagner Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM hotelero (2292) – ktan1 (2151) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Tchijov_Alexey (2229) – TR-ATILLA12345 (1858) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- alfilborracho (2062) – TR-ATILLA12345 (1863) 1-0 · 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
More Tarrasch Defense lines (all)
- Tarrasch Defense D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Grünfeld Gambit D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Marshall Gambit D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Schara Gambit D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation (5. Nf3 Nc6) D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Symmetrical Variation (6. cxd5 exd5) D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Tarrasch Gambit D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Two Knights Variation D32
- Tarrasch Defense: von Hennig Gambit D32
- Tarrasch Defense: Dubov Tarrasch D33
- Tarrasch Defense: Rubinstein System D33
- Tarrasch Defense: Swedish Variation D33
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.