Queen's Gambit Declined
Chess opening · ECO D30 · 4 half-moves
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6
The Queen's Gambit Declined is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Gambit with 2… e6.
How often it is played
The Queen's Gambit Declined and its variations appeared in 1.3% of games — 37,927 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 40 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 4.4% 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 +0.25 — 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: Queen's Knight Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 | 0.76% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Tarrasch Defense, Pseudo-Tarrasch | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 | 0.03% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Spielmann Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 c6 5. Nbd2 g6 | 0.00% |
| Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Slav, Junge Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bb4 6. e3 b5 7. Bd2 Qb6 | 0.00% |
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