Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation
Chess opening · ECO D00 · 3 half-moves
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3
The Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Pawn Game with 1… d5 2. Nc3.
How often it is played
The Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation and its variations appeared in 1.5% of games — 46,348 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 32 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 3.8% 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 -0.02 — which is level. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 | 5.1% |
| Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 | 4.5% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 | 2.3% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Rapport-Jobava System | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 | 0.44% |
| Rapport-Jobava System, with e6 | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Bf4 | 0.13% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Alburt Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Bf5 | 0.07% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Irish Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c5 | 0.03% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Shaviliuk Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e5 | 0.01% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Anti-Veresov | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Bg4 | 0.01% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation, Shropshire Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 h5 | 0.00% |
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