Move orders and transpositions

Advanced · 12 min

One position, many roads: which order keeps your options open, and which gives the choice to your opponent.

Continue the lesson free Read a whole lesson first

Play it without an account

The idea

One position can come by many roads, and the order sets your options.

The knight goes from g1 to f3, and c3 stays empty.
A knight on c3 could be pinned by a bishop on b4.
The bishop can still check from b4, but White picks the reply.

In a game: Before you play a move, ask which replies it allows and which it takes away.

How the lesson begins

A transposition is a different move order that reaches the same position. Step through six moves: White plays the d-pawn, the c-pawn and the knight from b1, and Black plays the knight from g8, the e-pawn and the d-pawn. Lichess calls the result the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Normal Defence.

The next step reaches it again by another road.

Move orders and transpositions, step 1: White to move — White to move

1. d4 White starts with the d-pawn.
1... Nf6 Black develops a knight.
2. c4 White adds the c-pawn.
2... e6 Black supports the centre.
3. Nc3 White develops the other knight.
3... d5 Black takes a share of the centre.

Move orders and transpositions: the position after 3... d5 — After 3... d5

Now begin with the c-pawn, as in the English. The same six moves are played, each side puts the same pieces on the same squares, and the final position is exactly the one from the last step, with White to move.

On this road the c-pawn has to move before the knight goes to c3. A white knight on c3 would block the pawn on c2, which could then not move at all.

Move orders and transpositions, step 2: White to move — White to move

1. c4 The English Opening.
1... Nf6 Black develops a knight.
2. Nc3 White develops a knight.
2... e6 Black supports the centre.
3. d4 White’s d-pawn comes last this time.
3... d5 The same Queen’s Gambit Declined as before.

A question

White has a pawn on c4, a pawn on d4 and a knight on c3. Black has a knight on f6, a pawn on e6 and a pawn on d5. Which move order reaches exactly this position?

Move orders and transpositions, step 3: White to move — White to move

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 Nf6

Show the answer

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6.

Right. White’s three moves and Black’s three moves are the same as before, only in another order. The position is the same, with White to move.

In numbers

How often it is played

Games in every thousand that start this way, by rating, in a sample of rated Lichess games from 2026.
Rating	Value
Under 800	Too few games
800 to 1199	12
1200 to 1599	20
1600 to 1999	27
2000 and up	30

How the games ended

White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%, over 41,658 games that start this way, in a sample of rated Lichess games from 2026.