Queen's Gambit Declined by rating
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3
The Queen's Gambit Declined is the classical answer to 1.d4 and one of the most forgiving openings to hold. The engine's choices here are also the natural developing moves, which is why findability rises steadily instead of jumping.
How often each rating finds the engine move
A smooth climb, 33 to 59 percent early and 44 to 70 percent late, with no rating band going backwards.
The position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3
This is where the opening actually starts asking a question. 34 moves are legal; Stockfish scores every one of them at depth 20.
Stockfish plays Nf6 at -0.25. Its next two choices are Bb4 (-0.30) and Be7 (-0.33).
| Rating | Most likely human move | Finds Nf6 | Cost in pawns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Nf6-0.25 | 33% | same move |
| 1200 | Nf6-0.25 | 44% | same move |
| 1400 | Nf6-0.25 | 53% | same move |
| 1600 | Nf6-0.25 | 59% | same move |
| 1800 | Nf6-0.25 | 64% | same move |
| 2000 | Nf6-0.25 | 64% | same move |
| 2200 | Nf6-0.25 | 59% | same move |
Two plies deeper
Following the most popular human continuation at 1400: Nf6 (53%), then Bg5 (36%).
Stockfish plays Be7 at -0.18. Its next two choices are dxc4 (-0.32) and c6 (-0.33).
| Rating | Most likely human move | Finds Be7 | Cost in pawns |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Be7-0.18 | 44% | same move |
| 1200 | Be7-0.18 | 49% | same move |
| 1400 | Be7-0.18 | 53% | same move |
| 1600 | Be7-0.18 | 59% | same move |
| 1800 | Be7-0.18 | 67% | same move |
| 2000 | Be7-0.18 | 71% | same move |
| 2200 | Be7-0.18 | 70% | same move |
See this for your own games
Chessdrive runs the same two engines on your phone. It shows the move you should have found at your rating, not just the move a 3500-rated engine would have played.
How these numbers were produced
Stockfish 18 by the Stockfish developers (see AUTHORS file) at depth 20, with MultiPV set to the exact legal move count of each position so no move is left unscored, and Maia3, chessformer, human move prediction, 5m (bundled with maia3-js, UofTCSSLab/Maia3-5M, about 5M parameters) for the human move distribution. Run on 2026-08-29 over 28 positions across 7 rating bands. Findability is Maia3's probability for Stockfish's top move; it is not a claim about win rate.