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Slav Defense

Moves

Black scores

47.0%

Loses more
Loses moreEvenWins more

44.7% won4.6% drawn50.8% lost

Theory 46.5% · Stockfish +0.4

Every level and clock · 32M games

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
2...c6
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<100010001200140016001800200022002500+

Win rate by rating

Black’s score falls away as the rating rises.

RatingScore against evenScoreWonGames
48.6%47.1%443K
47.3%45.8%1.2M
47.4%45.8%2.5M
47.5%45.8%4.3M
47.6%45.5%6.5M
47.2%44.8%7.6M
46.5%43.8%5.7M
45.6%42.5%3.5M
43.2%38.8%687K

Every clock · Tap a row to set your level.

What does White play next?

White's most played reply is 3.cxd5, the Exchange Variation.

Is the Slav Defense good?

Not for Black, across every level and clock.

Everyone47.0
Stockfish46.5

Stockfish at depth 22 · +0.4 for White

Floor 47.0 is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

Among the families

48th of 65 families Black can choose

Where it wins · rating × clock

<100010001200140016001800200022002500+Every levelUltraBulletBulletBlitzRapidClassical
Best 50.4% · 1000–1199 ultrabulletWorst 40.3% · 2500+ rapid

Faint, hatched: few games, never the best or worst. Tap a cell to set your level and clock.

Average game length

How do you score in your own openings?

Leaks reads your recent games and lists the openings you score worst in.

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More Slav Defense lines

Most played first; each line counts its own games.

All 40 Slav Defense lines, ranked

40 variations · ranked by floor

Floor — the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

1
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation2.3K games
53.2%Floor 51.5%
2
Slav Defense: Smyslov Variation6.3K games
52.2%Floor 51.1%
3
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System, Main Line26K games
51.4%Floor 50.8%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Wiesbaden Variation, Sharp Line6.3K games
51.6%Floor 50.6%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Dutch Variation75K games
50.6%Floor 50.3%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Krause Attack37K games
50.7%Floor 50.3%
Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit147K games
50.4%Floor 50.2%
Slav Defense: Diemer Gambit398K games
50.1%Floor 50.0%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Schallopp Variation224K games
49.9%Floor 49.7%
Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Amsterdam Variation299 games
54.4%Floor 49.7%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation63K games
49.7%Floor 49.3%
Slav Defense: Steiner Variation70K games
49.2%Floor 48.9%
Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Schallopp Defense674K games
49.0%Floor 48.9%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation7.9K games
49.4%Floor 48.5%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Carlsbad Variation, Morozevich Variation7.2K games
49.0%Floor 48.0%
Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Pin Defense1.1M games
48.0%Floor 48.0%
Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation438K games
48.0%Floor 47.9%
Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit286K games
48.0%Floor 47.8%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Classical System58K games
48.1%Floor 47.7%
Slav Defense: Geller Gambit380K games
47.5%Floor 47.4%
Slav Defense: Süchting Variation26K games
47.7%Floor 47.2%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation4.8M games
47.1%Floor 47.1%
Slav Defense12M games
47.0%Floor 47.0%
Slav Defense: Schlechter Variation722K games
47.1%Floor 47.0%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Symmetrical Line226K games
47.2%Floor 47.0%
Slav Defense: Quiet Variation698K games
47.0%Floor 46.9%
Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation, Advance System55K games
47.2%Floor 46.8%
Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack248K games
46.8%Floor 46.7%
Slav Defense: Three Knights Variation4.0M games
46.6%Floor 46.6%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Wiesbaden Variation25K games
46.9%Floor 46.4%
Slav Defense: Breyer Variation97K games
46.5%Floor 46.3%
Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation193K games
46.2%Floor 46.0%
Slav Defense: Modern Line3.9M games
45.8%Floor 45.8%
Slav Defense: Slav Gambit, Alekhine Attack830K games
45.6%Floor 45.5%
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Bled Attack11K games
46.3%Floor 45.5%
Slav Defense: Alapin Variation100K games
44.9%Floor 44.6%
Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit, Anti-Winawer Gambit4.1K games
45.8%Floor 44.5%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Trifunovic Variation12K games
45.3%Floor 44.5%
Slav Defense: Soultanbeieff Variation76K games
44.4%Floor 44.1%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Boor Attack138K games
44.3%Floor 44.0%
Analyze the Slav DefenseSee which move scores best at your level, one move at a time

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Methodology

Across every level and clock, the Slav Defense family scores 47.0% for Black, from 32M rated Lichess games across 40 variations, and the low and high ends of its range both round to that same figure at this precision. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played September 2023 to August 2026.

How the figures are made
Whose games these are
32M rated games played on Lichess (2023-09 to 2026-08). The games are Lichess’s and free for anyone to use. What is ours is the reading of them. Last rebuilt September 2026.
Which games we count
  • Rated games only — nothing casual.
  • Both players within 200 rating points of each other. A mismatch tells you about the gap, not about the opening.
  • At least 2 moves played.
  • A game is filed under White’s rating.
Why every number comes with a range
A number off a few hundred games is a guess. The same number off millions is a fact. The range is what tells them apart, and it is what the lists rank on — so an opening cannot reach the top on a lucky run of forty games. The more games behind a figure, the narrower its range.
What the Floor and Edge at worst are
The Floor is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident: the low end of a figure’s range, not its average. Edge at worst is how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident, so above zero, that side wins more than it loses even on a bad day. Each is stated for the rating and clock shown, over the games that reached the position. They are on different scales: a score sits at 50 when the sides are level, an edge at zero.
How much we need before we say anything
An opening page needs 100 games. A figure on it needs 100 games at its rating and clock: short of that the answer reads a wider scope and says so, a table row shows only its count, and a map cell shows a dash. Under 1.0K games a figure is drawn faint, and never leads a list or counts as the best or worst place the line wins. The chaos and trap lists need 500 games overall and 250 games at one rating or clock.