Openings · D06–D69

Queen's Gambit

Not really a gambit: the pawn can be taken and cannot be kept.

1.d4 d5 2.c4played as White

The idea

2.c4 offers a wing pawn for the centre. If Black takes, White does not chase it — e3 and Bxc4 recover it in due course, and meanwhile White has the pawn on d4 and the better share of the middle of the board.

Most of the theory is about what Black does instead: holding d5 with a pawn (the Declined, or the Slav with ...c6) and finding a way to free the position with ...c5 or ...dxc4 followed by ...c5.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

Your move 1 of 20/2

1.d4d5
2.c4

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level. Each is ordinary opening theory — a named trap, or the error every coach corrects — not a statistic, and not drawn from anybody's games.

Chasing the pawn on c4

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Qf3

The mistake: Spending early moves trying to win the c4 pawn back immediately.
Why it costs: It cannot be held anyway, so the moves are wasted. If Black does try to hold it with ...b5, the structure falls apart: after 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5, the queen comes to f3 and hits the rook on a8 and the pawn on b5 at once.
Instead: 3.e3 or 3.Nf3, develop normally, and take on c4 when it costs nothing.

The Elephant Trap

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+

The mistake: Taking the d5 pawn once the knight on f6 is pinned against the queen.
Why it costs: The pin is an illusion: 6…Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8 and Black has a piece for nothing. Black is not defending d5 with the knight on f6; Black is inviting you.
Instead: 6.e3, and carry on developing. The pawn is bait.

Releasing the tension with cxd5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5

The mistake: Exchanging on d5 early, to make the position clearer.
Why it costs: It is clearer for Black. The tension is what makes Black's life awkward — every plan has to account for it — and once it is gone, so is the question. The Exchange Variation is a real opening, but it is played for a specific plan, not for tidiness.
Instead: Finish developing — Nf3, e3, Bd3, O-O — and exchange when the exchange wins you something.

Where it fits

The lines out of it with pages of their own: Queen's Gambit Accepted, Queen's Gambit Declined and Slav Defence.

Try it on one of your own

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