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

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

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

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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.d4d5
  2. 2.c4

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

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.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Chasing the pawn on c4

After 6.Qf3
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
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

After 7…Bb4+
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
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

After 4.cxd5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
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.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 55games end with White giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.
  • 1 in 120games end with White getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.

From 11,922 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 4 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. e6+0.2
  2. dxc4+0.4
  3. c6+0.4
  4. Nc6+0.4
  5. c5+0.5
  6. Nf6+0.7

The engine's main line from e6: e6 cxd5 exd5 Nc3 Nf6 Bg5 Be7 e3.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

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

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