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Slav Defense

♜♞♝♛♜♚♟♟♟♟♝♟♟♞♟♟♞♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♝♟♜♞♝♛♜♚

Slav Defense is regularly played in classical games between masters. Below you will find its variations, move orders, result statistics and the players who play it most, compiled from games of 2500+ rated players.

100master games
2618avg. Elo
5variations
White wins %26 · draw %53 · Black wins %21

Played by: Erigaisi, Niemann, Dubov, Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh, Anand, Abdusattorov

Main line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.Ne5 Ng4 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Bf4 Nxe5 10.dxe5 e6 11.e4 d4 12.h4 Nc6 13.Bg5 Qb6 14.f4 h6 15.Bf6 Qxb2

Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.

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Variations played by masters (5)

Modern Line · ECO D11 · for Black

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.Ne5 Ng4 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Bf4 Nxe5 10.dxe5 e6 …
33 games · avg. Elo 2622 · W/D/L 5/21/7 · Model game: Nakamura – Erigaisi, 2025 (1/2-1/2)

Czech Variation, Krause Attack · ECO D17 · for Black

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.h4 h6 10.f3 Nfd7 …
22 games · avg. Elo 2626 · W/D/L 7/11/4 · Model game: Wojtaszek – Felgaer, 2024 (1-0)

Quiet Variation · ECO D11 · for Black

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.b3 Bd6 7.Bb2 b6 8.O-O Bb7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Qc2 h6 …
17 games · avg. Elo 2596 · W/D/L 6/7/4 · Model game: Donchenko – Nyzhnyk, 2024 (1-0)

Exchange Variation · ECO D13 · for Black

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Bf5 7.e3 e6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 …
15 games · avg. Elo 2613 · W/D/L 3/11/1

Chebanenko Variation · ECO D15 · for Black

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e3 e6 6.Bd2 dxc4 7.a4 c5 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 Nc6 10.Bg5 Be7 …
13 games · avg. Elo 2628 · W/D/L 5/3/5 · Model game: Nguyen – Grandelius, 2026 (1/2-1/2)

Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.

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Other openings

Sicilian DefenseQueen's Gambit DeclinedRuy LopezEnglish OpeningItalian GameIndian DefensePetrov's DefenseNimzo-Indian DefenseFrench DefenseZukertort OpeningCaro-Kann DefenseQueen's Pawn GameKing's Indian AttackFour Knights GameQueen's Gambit AcceptedCatalan Opening

Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.