Lasker Defense
- 1.d4Nf6
- 2.c4e6
- 3.Nc3d5
- 4.Bg5Be7
- 5.e3Ne4
672 games
A solid Queen's Gambit Declined system in which Black plays ...Ne4 to challenge the g5-bishop and trade minor pieces, easing a cramped position.
Train it in TheoriaAbout the Lasker Defense
The Lasker Defense, also known as the Lasker Variation, centers on ...Ne4. The knight confronts the pinning bishop and usually forces two pairs of minor pieces off, relieving Black's lack of space. Here it comes at once with 5...Ne4. 6. Bxe7 is by far the usual reply, and 6. Nxe4 and 6. Bf4 are rarer. More often Black first inserts ...h6 and ...O-O, as in the main line. Anand used it to win the deciding game of the 2010 title match against Topalov.
Popular continuations
Named variations 5
- Main Line 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. bxc3
- Teichmann Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Qc2
- Bernstein Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. Nf3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Qb3 Qd6 1 variation
- Russian Variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Qc2 Nf6 10. Bd3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 c5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Rfd1 Bd7