Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...c6/3. Nf3/3...Nf6/4. e3

Slav Defence, Quiet variation
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/3p4/2PP4/4PN2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R b
Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3

Slav Defence, Quiet variation

4. e3

Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3

White plays the quiet move 4. e3, introducing more positional play as white is yet to commit the b1-knight to c3. As such, the position remains flexible for both sides and a variety of openings can occur, such as: Slav Defence, Quiet Variation D11, Quiet Variation, Pin Defence D12 and Schallopp Defence D12.

Black's most common responses are 4...Bf5 and 4...e6, with the latter frequently transposing back into a mainline semi-slav defence. However, White can avoid such a semi-slav transposition on move 5 with a variety of options, such as Bd3, b3, Nbd2, and Qc2 rather than Nc3. Other responses from Black include 4...a6, 4...g6, and 4...Bg4, all of which are frequently played.

White tends to score similarly in this quiet variation compared to the mainline slav variations.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 ...

	4
Slav Defence, Quiet Variation	... e6	+/=
Slav Defence, Quiet Variation	... a6	+/=
Quiet Variation, Pin Defence	... Bg4	+/=
Quiet Variation, Schallopp Defence	... Bf5	+/=