Slav Defense: Modern Line
Chess opening · ECO D11 · 5 half-moves
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3
The Slav Defense: Modern Line is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Slav Defense with 3. Nf3.
How often it is played
The Slav Defense: Modern Line and its variations appeared in 0.62% of games — 18,696 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 75 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 5.0% were drawn and Black won 44%. 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 +0.31 — 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit Declined | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 | 0.35% |
| Slav Defense: Quiet Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 | 0.12% |
| Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 | 0.01% |
| Slav Defense: Breyer Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nbd2 | 0.00% |
| Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Trifunovic Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. e3 e6 8. Qb3 Bb4 | 0.00% |
| Catalan Opening: Closed Variation, Rabinovich Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 e6 5. Nbd2 Be7 6. g3 Nbd7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O b5 | 0.00% |
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