Slav Defense: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Slav Defense · 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 47.3% in 16,389 Slav Defense games (±0.7; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 45.3% of them, White won 50.7%, and 4.0% were drawn.

Black scores below 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 47.3% (±0.7) with the Slav Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (16,389 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

1.5%

of rated games at Lichess rating 1800–2099 reached the Slav Defense · 19,568 of 1,329,701 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.4%. At 1800–2099: 1.5%. 3.8× as common at 1800–2099 as under 1200.

Position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. 57,704 games in this sample reached it — 19,137 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 52.1% (Under 1200) to 53.8% (1800–2099).
That spread is within the approximate margin of error, so this sample shows no clear difference between levels.
It appeared most often in the 1800–2099 group (1.5% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.4%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Slav Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Slav Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12003,137 gamesCompared with

White wins 50.6% · draws 2.9% · Black wins 46.5% · White's score 52.1% ±1.7 · how common 0.4%
1200–14998,188 games

White wins 51.7% · draws 2.9% · Black wins 45.3% · White's score 53.2% ±1.1 · how common 0.7%
1500–179916,389 games

White wins 50.7% · draws 4.0% · Black wins 45.3% · White's score 52.7% ±0.7 · how common 1.0%
1800–209919,568 gamesIn the headline

White wins 51.4% · draws 4.8% · Black wins 43.8% · White's score 53.8% ±0.7 · how common 1.5%
2100+10,422 games

White wins 50.0% · draws 6.4% · Black wins 43.7% · White's score 53.2% ±0.9 · how common 1.5%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Slav Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Slav Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	21,412	51.5%	3.3%	45.2%	53.1%
Blitz	28,407	50.7%	5.1%	44.2%	53.2%
Rapid	7,616	50.4%	5.5%	44.1%	53.2%
Classical	269	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3.Nc3 ·45.0% · 1,409 · 52.3% ±2.6 3.Nf3 ·15.1% · 474 · 54.5% ±4.4 3.cxd5 ·13.8% · 433 · 48.0% ±4.6
1200–1499	3.Nc3 ·51.8% · 4,239 · 53.7% ±1.5 3.Nf3 ·15.4% · 1,256 · 53.1% ±2.7 3.cxd5 ·13.1% · 1,072 · 51.7% ±2.9
1500–1799	3.Nc3 ·54.7% · 8,966 · 53.4% ±1.0 3.Nf3 ·16.0% · 2,616 · 51.7% ±1.9 3.cxd5 ·13.0% · 2,126 · 51.7% ±2.1
1800–2099	3.Nc3 ·57.3% · 11,214 · 52.9% ±0.9 3.Nf3 ·17.9% · 3,509 · 56.3% ±1.6 3.cxd5 ·13.9% · 2,715 · 54.3% ±1.8
2100+	3.Nc3 ·48.6% · 5,069 · 52.3% ±1.3 3.Nf3 ·28.0% · 2,916 · 54.4% ±1.7 3.cxd5 ·17.3% · 1,807 · 54.7% ±2.2

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Queen's Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4
Related line: 1.d4 Nf6 (Indian Defense)
Related line: 1.d4 e6 (Horwitz Defense)
Related line: 1.d4 e5 (Englund Gambit)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6	1500–1799	22,695	46.6% ±0.6

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Slav Defense to 2 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3: 31,714 games
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4: 4,401 games

Download these numbers: Slav Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.