Slav Defense
Chess opening · ECO D10 · 4 half-moves
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
The Slav Defense is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Gambit with 2… c6.
How often it is played
The Slav Defense and its variations appeared in 1.3% of games — 39,624 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 36 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 51%, 4.9% 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 +0.35 — 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: Modern Line | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 | 0.62% |
| Slav Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 | 0.17% |
| Semi-Slav Defense: Main Line | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 | 0.09% |
| Slav Defense: Slav Gambit, Alekhine Attack | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 | 0.03% |
| Slav Defense: Diemer Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e4 | 0.01% |
| Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e5 | 0.00% |
| Grünfeld Defense: Smyslov Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Bg4 | 0.00% |
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