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Slav Defense (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6)
How do Slav Defense games actually end? Across 41,842 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6, White won 51.3%, 5.1% were drawn and Black won 43.6%. 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...c6 | Slav Defense | 41,842 | 51.3% | 5.1% | 43.6% |
| 3.Nc3 | Slav Defense | 22,637 | 51.7% | 4.8% | 43.5% |
| 3...Nf6 | - | 12,959 | 50.0% | 4.9% | 45.1% |
| 4.Nf3 | - | 5,881 | 50.2% | 5.1% | 44.7% |
The 5 most common continuations (for White)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.Nc3 | - | 22,637 | 51.7% | 4.8% | 43.5% |
| 3.Nf3 | - | 9,062 | 53.2% | 5.5% | 41.4% |
| 3.e3 | - | 4,440 | 48.4% | 5.3% | 46.2% |
| 3.cxd5 | - | 3,639 | 51.4% | 5.8% | 42.7% |
| 3.Bf4 | - | 512 | 42.6% | 4.5% | 52.9% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 21,719 | 52.0% | 4.4% | 43.6% |
| 2200-2499 | 982 | 48.5% | 8.1% | 43.4% |
The story of the opening
The Slav answers the Queen's Gambit with 2...c6 and fixes the old nuisance of the Declined: the pawn goes to c6 instead of e6, keeping the light squared bishop's diagonal open. The name comes from the Slavic masters who polished it in the early 20th century, such as Alapin, Bogoljubov and Vidmar.
Its historic peak came in the two World Championship matches between Max Euwe and Alexander Alekhine, in 1935 and 1937, stuffed with Slavs from both sides of the board. Today it remains in the elite arsenal and thrives at club level, with one of the highest draw rates in Black's repertoire against 1.d4: it is the choice of players who want, above all, not to lose, saving ambition for the middlegame.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: Queen's Gambit Declined and King's 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