Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense
D06 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6
White scores 60.8% here across 1,388 club games — but the 2.7% who answer c5 score 48.7%, 12 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 1,388 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 60.8% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nc3 | 689 | 49.6% | 63.0% | holds up |
| cxd5 | 242 | 17.4% | 61.8% | holds up |
| e3 | 191 | 13.8% | 62.3% | holds up |
| Nf3 | 117 | 8.4% | 60.7% | holds up |
| c5 | 38 | 2.7% | 48.7% | below the line |
| Bg5 | 37 | 2.7% | 39.2% | below the line |
| h3 | 30 | 2.2% | 50.0% | below the line |
"Below the line" means the reply scores at least three points worse than the position does overall. Replies played fewer than 25 times are left out: the sample is too small to read.
Is this costing you anything?
A table of averages cannot tell you whether you go wrong here — only your own games can. Opening Leak Lab reads your Chess.com or Lichess archive, finds the decisions you repeat, and checks each one against this book and a bundled Stockfish.
Related openings
- Queen's Gambit D06