About this opening
Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation, Spassky Variation is an opening in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings,
classified under code D34. ECO group D (D00–D99)
covers closed games and semi-closed games beginning 1.d4 d5, covering the Queen's Gambit, Slav, Grünfeld and related queen-pawn structures. This particular variation is reached
after 22 half-moves from the
starting position, with the move sequence 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Bg4.
It belongs to the Tarrasch Defense family.
Within that family this is a level-2 branch (the Classical Variation → Spassky Variation line). The immediate parent line is Tarrasch Defense: Classical Variation, transitioned via 11…Bg4.
The opening sequence in prose form: 1.d4 d5, 2.c4 e6, 3.Nc3 c5, 4.cxd5 exd5, 5.Nf3 Nc6, 6.g3 Nf6. From this position the encyclopaedia records no further canonical continuations — practical play branches into unnamed transpositions or returns to the parent line for alternative ideas.
Use the interactive board above to walk through the moves position-by-position. Click any move in the navigation to step backwards, or use the keyboard arrow keys. For statistical data — how often master-level players have reached this position, White's win-rate, draw frequency, Black's score — see the panel in the right column.
Caissly's coverage of D34 extends through every named sub-variation in this line and across all four locales (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian). Where editorial commentary exists for a specific variation it appears as the page body; otherwise the page presents the structural data, board, and statistics as shown here.