Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation
Chess opening · ECO D31 · 5 half-moves
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Gambit Declined with 3. Nc3.
How often it is played
The Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation and its variations appeared in 0.76% of games — 22,837 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 66 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 4.3% were drawn and Black won 45%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.29 — a small edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Slav Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 | 1.3% |
| Queen's Gambit Accepted | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 | 0.80% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 | 0.49% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 | 0.28% |
| Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Move Order | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 | 0.18% |
| Tarrasch Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 | 0.10% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Charousek Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 | 0.02% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Janowski Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 a6 | 0.01% |
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