- The moves1. d4 d5 2. c4
- Chosen byWhite
- ECOD06–D69
The Queen's Gambit comes after 1.d4 d5 2.c4. White offers the c-pawn to lure Black's pawn away from the center. It isn't really a true gambit, since Black can't keep the pawn without drawbacks. Black chooses between taking, the Queen's Gambit Accepted with 2…dxc4, and declining, usually with 2…e6. The third big reply, 2…c6, is the Slav Defense and has a page of its own.
It is one of the oldest openings there is. It is mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript from around 1490 and was analyzed by Gioachino Greco in the 1600s. Its heyday was the 1920s and 1930s: in the 1927 world championship match between José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, all but two of the games began with the Queen's Gambit Declined.
The main line, move by move
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4
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The ideas
White wants to
- Press on d5 with c4, Nc3 and often Bg5.
- Use the c-file and, in the Exchange Variation, the minority attack with the queenside pawns.
- Make use of the fact that Black's bishop on c8 stands passively behind the pawn on e6.
Black wants to
- Hold d5 and set up solidly. The Queen's Gambit Declined is considered one of Black's most reliable defenses to 1.d4.
- Free the game with the breaks …c5 or …e5.
- Solve the problem of the bishop on c8: get it out, trade it off, or show that it is useful after all.
Important variations
Queen's Gambit Accepted: 2…dxc4
Black takes the pawn but doesn't try to keep it. The plan, which Wilhelm Steinitz already used in the 1886 world championship match, is to give the pawn back, develop quickly and then attack White's center with …c5. White often gets an isolated pawn on d4. Trying to keep the pawn usually backfires: Alessandro Salvio showed as early as 1604 how 3.e3 b5? 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5?? 6.Qf3 wins a minor piece, because the diagonal to the rook on a8 has been opened.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6
2… dxc4
The Queen's Gambit Accepted. Black gives up the center for a while to get free development.
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Exchange Variation: 4.cxd5
White trades on d5 and locks the pawn structure early. Black gets a pawn majority on the queenside, White in the center. White's typical plan is the minority attack: Rb1 and the pawns b4–b5, to create a weak black pawn on c6. The other plan is to take the center with f3 and e4. The structure is often called the Carlsbad structure.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2
The Tarrasch Defense and the Swedish Variation
With 3…c5 Black takes up the fight for the center at once, as Siegbert Tarrasch advocated. The price is usually an isolated pawn on d5. If Black answers 6.g3 with 6…c4, it is called the Swedish Variation. It was analyzed above all by Gösta Stoltz and used by the Swedish team at the 1933 Chess Olympiad. Black gets four pawns against three on the queenside and wants to go on with …b5, while White aims for the break e4. Today the line is considered a little dubious, but it still carries its Swedish name in the opening books, and is sometimes also called the Folkestone Variation, after the town where the Olympiad was played.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 c4
The trap: the Elephant Trap
An old trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined: the earliest known game is Karl Mayet against Daniel Harrwitz in Berlin in 1848. Black plays 4…Nbd7, and White thinks the knight on f6 is pinned to the queen and tries to win a pawn with 6.Nxd5??. But the knight can move after all: 6…Nxd5! gives away the queen, and after 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ White has to give the queen back. Black wins a minor piece for a pawn.
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
How it goes in real games
How the games ended once the position had come up on the board, in blitz, rapid and classical games. White wins, draws and Black wins, as a percentage of the games.
| Position | Level | Games | White wins | Draw | Black wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's Gambit 1. d4 d5 2. c4 | Club players | 120,638,833 | 52% | 5% | 43% |
| Beginners | 80,747,486 | 53% | 4% | 43% | |
| Queen's Gambit, main line 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 | Club players | 80,314 | 50% | 7% | 42% |
| Beginners | 1,179 | 53% | 5% | 42% | |
| Queen's Gambit Accepted: 2…dxc4 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 | Club players | 184,647 | 45% | 11% | 44% |
| Beginners | 4,098 | 41% | 5% | 54% | |
| Exchange Variation: 4.cxd5 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2 | Club players | 165,820 | 52% | 7% | 41% |
| Beginners | 2,029 | 54% | 4% | 42% |
The most common continuations after 1. d4 d5 2. c4
Club players, share of the games in the position.
- 2…e6 31% (37,166,950 games)
- 2…c6 25% (29,631,359 games)
- 2…dxc4 18% (22,056,214 games)
- 2…Nf6 13% (15,691,787 games)
- 2…e5 5% (5,523,236 games)
Source: games on Lichess, fetched October 28, 2026. Club players means games where the players average 1600 or more, beginners games where they average 1000–1599.
Is this opening for you?
The Queen's Gambit suits players who play 1.d4 and like clear plans: pressure on the center, a position you understand and few risks. With Black, the Queen's Gambit Declined is one of the most reliable defenses there is. In the last game of the 2010 world championship match, the world champion Viswanathan Anand chose the Queen's Gambit Declined with Black against Veselin Topalov, won the game and kept his title.
The opening is also a good school of strategy. Isolated pawns, minority attacks and the fight for a tempo turn up in almost every game.
A famous game
Fischer–Spassky, the sixth game of the 1972 world championship match, is a Queen's Gambit Declined classic, with the Tartakower Variation. Fischer vs. Spassky, Game 6
Practice the main line
Choose a color and one of the house players. Your opponent follows the main line, and you try to find your moves. If you play something else, you'll see the main line's move, but the game goes on. When the main line ends, you play freely.
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The main line with all the comments as text
1. d4 d5 2. c4 The Queen's Gambit. White challenges the pawn on d5 from the side. 2… e6 The Queen's Gambit Declined. Black holds on to d5 and opens the way for the bishop on f8. The price is that the bishop on c8 is shut in. 3. Nc3 Another piece against d5. 3… Nf6 4. Bg5 The bishop pins the knight, which protects d5. In the 1900s this was the most common move. 4… Be7 Black breaks the pin and prepares to castle. 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 The Orthodox Defense. The knight supports …e5 or …c5 later. 7. Rc1 The rook goes to the c-file, which may open. 7… c6 Black supports d5 and waits. 8. Bd3 The bishop develops, and now Black gains a tempo. 8… dxc4 Black waits to take on c4 until the bishop has moved. Now White has to spend an extra move taking back. 9. Bxc4 White has more space. José Raúl Capablanca showed the freeing maneuver 9…Nd5 here, which trades pieces and lets Black breathe more easily.
More openings
Slav Defense
2…c6: solid as a wall, and the bishop on c8 is free.
London System
A system rather than an opening: the same good setup against almost anything Black does.
Nimzo-Indian Defense
3…Bb4: pin the knight, stop e4, and be ready to trade the bishop for doubled pawns.
King's Indian Defense
Let White take the center, strike back with e5 and storm the kingside.
Every move on this page has been checked against the rules of chess.
Updated November 6, 2026
2. c4
The Queen's Gambit. White challenges the pawn on d5 from the side.