1.d4 d5 2.c4
The Queen's Gambit begins 1.d4 d5 2.c4. White offers the c-pawn to lure Black's d-pawn away from the centre. It is not a real gambit: if Black takes with 2...dxc4, White regains the pawn in most lines with e3 and Bxc4, or with an early Qa4+.
Black's main replies are 2...e6, the Queen's Gambit Declined; 2...c6, the Slav Defense; and 2...dxc4, the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Each leads to a different kind of game, but in all of them the fight is about the d5 square and the c- and e-pawn breaks.
The 2020 Netflix series of the same name made the opening famous outside chess, but it has been a mainstay of top-level play for more than a century.
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White fights for the centre with a flank pawn and gets lasting pressure with low risk. It teaches the core ideas of 1.d4 chess: space, the minority attack and play with or against an isolated pawn.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 b6
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The Exchange Variation (cxd5 exd5) produces the Carlsbad structure: White pawns on d4 and e3, Black pawns on d5 and c6. White's classic plan is the minority attack: push the b-pawn to b5 to exchange it for the c6 pawn and leave Black with a weak pawn on c6 or d5.
In the Queen's Gambit Accepted Black gives up the centre for a while. White often ends up with an isolated d-pawn after ...c5 and an exchange on d4. The isolated pawn gives White active pieces and attacking chances; Black aims to blockade it on d5 and trade pieces toward an endgame.
In the Tartakower and Lasker lines Black's plan is simple: develop, then free the position with ...c5 or ...e5. If Black achieves one of those breaks without concessions, the position is equal.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6
Black takes the pawn and gives up the centre for a while. White regains it with e3 and Bxc4, and Black strikes back with ...c5. The QGA is fully sound, as long as Black does not try to keep the extra pawn (see the traps below).
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Nf3 Re8 10.O-O
White fixes the pawn structure early. After castling, the plan is Rab1, b4 and b5: the minority attack. Black plays for piece activity and a kingside counter-attack, often with ...Ne4 or ...Nf8-g6.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
Black supports d5 with the c-pawn instead of the e-pawn, keeping the c8 bishop's diagonal open. It has its own page.
Slav Defense: moves, ideas and traps1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4
Black gives up a pawn for a cramping pawn on d4. It is risky but full of tricks; see the Lasker Trap below.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8
White's 6.Nxd5? looks like it wins a pawn because the f6 knight is pinned. But the pin is only against the queen: 6...Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8, and Black has won a knight for a pawn.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Qf3
In the Accepted, trying to keep the extra pawn backfires. After 3...b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Qf3 the queen attacks the rook on a8 along the long diagonal, and Black loses a piece: 6...Nc6 7.Qxc6+, or 6...Bb7 7.Qxb7.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4 exf2+ 7.Ke2 fxg1=N+
This one catches White. After 3...d4 4.e3? Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4? exf2+ 7.Ke2, Black promotes to a knight with check: 7...fxg1=N+. Then 8.Rxg1 Bg4+ wins the queen, and after 8.Ke1 Qh4+ the white king is caught in the open. It is a rare case where an underpromotion is the strongest move.
The Queen's Gambit Declined was the main opening of world championship chess in the early 20th century. In the 1927 match between Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca, almost every game was a Queen's Gambit Declined.
Later champions kept it at the centre of their repertoires. Karpov and Kasparov contested it regularly in their title matches, and the Exchange Variation with the minority attack became a model of positional play. The 2020 Netflix series brought the name to a mass audience.
Copy the position at the end of the main line, open the chess move calculator, paste it into the “Paste FEN” box under the board and press the FEN button next to it. Stockfish 19 then suggests a move for the side to play, at the strength set on the calculator's slider, and you can play on from there to test your own ideas.
rnbq1rk1/p1p1bpp1/1p2pn1p/3p4/2PP3B/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 0 81. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bh4 b6For a move-by-move review of a whole game you played with this opening, use the chess analysis board.
Knowing the moves is not the same as playing them under pressure. Play chess against the computer with the white pieces and steer the game toward the Queen's Gambit from move one, then sharpen the tactics that come out of it with chess puzzles.
Go deeper: Pawn promotion and underpromotion · Chess endgame strategy
Not in the usual sense. If Black takes on c4, White can almost always win the pawn back, for example with e3 and Bxc4. The point of 2.c4 is to lure Black's d-pawn away from the centre, not to sacrifice material.
Accepting with 2...dxc4 is perfectly sound, as long as Black gives the pawn back and uses the time for development and ...c5. Trying to hold the pawn with ...b5 usually loses material.
Yes. The plans are logical and the positions are rarely chaotic. It teaches central control, piece development and pawn structures that come up in many other 1.d4 openings.
The Queen's Gambit challenges Black's centre with 2.c4 and leads to a direct fight for d5. The London System develops the bishop to f4 and builds the same setup with e3 and c3 whatever Black does. The London needs less theory; the Queen's Gambit asks more of Black.
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