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Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6)
How do Queen's Gambit Declined games actually end? Across 45,803 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, White won 52.1%, 5.4% were drawn and Black won 42.6%. Below: the main line move by move, the most played continuations (the favorite is 3.Nc3), the rating effect and the opening's history.
The main line, move by move
| Move | Position name | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.d4 | Queen's Pawn Game | 697,933 | 50.4% | 4.7% | 44.9% |
| 1...d5 | Queen's Pawn Game | 292,120 | 52.6% | 4.8% | 42.5% |
| 2.c4 | Queen's Gambit | 154,562 | 54.6% | 4.8% | 40.7% |
| 2...e6 | Queen's Gambit Declined | 45,803 | 52.1% | 5.4% | 42.6% |
| 3.Nc3 | Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation | 28,986 | 53.1% | 5.3% | 41.6% |
| 3...Nf6 | Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense | 17,381 | 51.8% | 5.6% | 42.7% |
| 4.Bg5 | - | 6,181 | 51.7% | 5.9% | 42.4% |
The 5 most common continuations (for White)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.Nc3 | Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation | 28,986 | 53.1% | 5.3% | 41.6% |
| 3.Nf3 | - | 7,620 | 53.0% | 5.6% | 41.4% |
| 3.e3 | - | 3,702 | 47.5% | 5.4% | 47.0% |
| 3.cxd5 | - | 2,400 | 49.9% | 5.7% | 44.4% |
| 3.a3 | - | 1,538 | 48.0% | 5.5% | 46.4% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 24,897 | 52.4% | 4.7% | 42.8% |
| 2200-2499 | 742 | 51.8% | 6.6% | 41.6% |
The story of the opening
The Queen's Gambit Declined, 2...e6, is the most classical reply in chess: Black simply supports the center and returns the question. It was the official language of championship chess for a full century. The extreme example is the 1927 match between Capablanca and Alekhine in Buenos Aires: of 34 games, 32 opened with the Queen's Gambit, nearly all declined, a heroic monotony that decided the world title.
That reputation for reliability never aged: from Botvinnik to Carlsen, every world champion has kept the Declined in the repertoire, usually as a shield for the games that matter most. The Lichess statistics paint the faithful portrait of a correct defense: balanced rates, few catastrophes and the promise of a healthy middlegame where the better player wins, not the better memorizer.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: King's Indian Defense and Nimzo-Indian Defense. Nerd aside: chess notation is a 64 square code, cousin to the ones living next door, like binary and Morse.
Source: the Lichess open game database (database.lichess.org, CC0 data), months 2014-06, 2015-01, 2016-01, snapshot of 2026-07-09: blitz, rapid and classical games with the players' average rating between 1600 and 2199, aggregated by move sequence. Variation names and ECO codes: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).
Last updated: · Methodology and sources