Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation

How do you reach the Capablanca Variation?

The Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation arises after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 h6. Along the way the game passes through Queen's Pawn Game → Indian Defense → Indian Defense: Normal Variation → Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian → Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation → Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation, which is why you will see those names on the way into it. Transpositions reaching the same position by a different move order are counted as the same opening on this page.

The main line, move by move

1. 1. d4 — the position is now the Queen's Pawn Game
2. 1... Nf6 — the position is now the Indian Defense
3. 2. c4 — the position is now the Indian Defense: Normal Variation
4. 2... e6
5. 3. Nf3 — the position is now the Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian
6. 3... d5
7. 4. Bg5 — the position is now the Queen's Gambit Declined: Traditional Variation
8. 4... h6 — the position is now the Queen's Gambit Declined: Capablanca Variation

Data updated 9 August 2026. Game sample: Lichess July 2026, rating band 1200–2200. Opening names and lines: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).