Queen's Gambit Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4

Take the pawn on move two, give it back later, and get a free, open game where your pieces come out faster than White's. There is no cramped bishop and no wall to defend: you hit d4 with ...c5, expand with ...a6 and ...b5, and the only thing you have to remember is not to be greedy.

Spar this opening

Your setup

  • Knightf6
  • Knightd7 / c6
  • Bishopd6 / e7
  • Bishopb7
  • Queenc7 / e7
  • Pawnse6 c5 a6
  • CastleO-O

a6 before b5. ...a6 first, then ...b5. A pawn on b5 with nothing on a6 is a target: a4 hits it, the c-pawn cannot hold it, and the whole queenside comes apart while you have developed nothing.

Ideas

The pawn is a loan

You took c4 to deflect the d-pawn's partner, not to keep it. Give it back and develop.

White will always get the pawn back with e3 and Bxc4, and every move you spend trying to stop that is a move you did not spend on a piece. The point of taking is that White's centre is now d4 alone, so ...c5 hits it hard and ...Nc6 or ...Nd7 pile on. Play as if you never won the pawn.

Hit d4 with ...c5

Once the bishop has taken on c4, ...c5 is the move. Everything else is preparation.

After Bxc4 White's centre is a single pawn on d4. ...c5 attacks it, opens the c-file for your queen and rook, and gives your dark bishop the c5 or d6 square. If White trades on c5 you recapture with the bishop and have a free game; if White holds the tension, ...a6 and ...b5 gain space while d4 stays under pressure.

...a6, then ...b5 and ...Bb7

Gain space on the queenside and kick the bishop off c4. Always ...a6 first.

The bishop on c4 is White's best piece: it looks at e6 and f7. ...b5 chases it away and prepares ...Bb7, which turns your worst piece into your best. But ...b5 needs ...a6 behind it, or a4 breaks the pawn chain and the b5-pawn simply falls.

Against 3.e4: hit back with ...e5

When White grabs the whole centre, strike at once. ...e5, ...exd4, then pieces to c6 and e6.

3.e4 is the greedy version of the gambit: two pawns in the centre before a single piece is out. Do not sit back. ...e5 forces the question, ...exd4 leaves White a pawn to recover, and ...Nc6 and ...Be6 develop with threats. Watch for the bishop on c4: when it is attacked, White has to move it or lose it, and several natural White moves forget.

Never ...b5 to hold the pawn

...b5 before your pieces are out loses the queenside, not just the pawn.

The tempting idea after 2...dxc4 is ...b5 to keep the pawn. It fails to a4: after ...c6 axb5 cxb5 the pawns are loose and Qf3 or b3 picks off a rook or a pawn while you have nothing developed. If you want the pawn to matter, make White spend moves recovering it. Do not try to keep it.

When the book runs out

Castle, trade ...cxd4 when it opens lines for you, and play against White's lone d-pawn.

Your pieces are the plan: knights on f6 and d7, bishops on d6 and b7, queen on c7, rooks on c8 and d8. Trade on d4 when it opens the long diagonal or the c-file, keep an eye on e5 pushes that kick your knight, and remember that ...c4 usually helps White by closing the centre.

The structure

The QGA picture: the pawn is back on c4 as a bishop, your c5-pawn leans on d4, and ...b5 is about to chase the bishop and open b7 for your own.

Traps

The pawn you cannot keep
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 e3 b5 a4 c6 axb5 cxb5 Qf3

The tell: The urge to hold the c4-pawn with ...b5, then to hold b5 with ...c6.

Once the c-pawn moves the long diagonal from f3 to a8 is empty. Qf3 attacks the rook, and anything that blocks on c6 or b7 is taken with the rook to follow. Give the pawn back: ...Nf6, ...e6 and ...c5.

The d4-pawn is guarded
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 e4 e5 Nf3 exd4 Bxc4 Nc6 Nxd4 Nxd4

The tell: White has taken back on c4 and now wants the other pawn back too.

The knight on c6 guards d4, and behind it your queen does as well. Nxd4 loses a knight for a pawn, because Qxd4 runs into ...Qxd4 with nothing to recapture.

The forgotten bishop
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 e4 e5 Nf3 exd4 Bxc4 Nc6 O-O Be6 Nxd4 Bxc4

The tell: Your bishop lands on e6 and White replies with a pawn grab or an attacking move instead of dealing with the attacked bishop.

Be6 attacks the bishop on c4. Nxd4, Ng5 and Re1 all ignore that, and Bxc4 simply wins a piece. Before every move here ask what is attacking c4.

Model games

Main line: give it back, hit d4
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 Nf3 Nf6 e3 e6 Bxc4 c5 O-O a6 Qe2 b5 Bb3 Bb7 Rd1 Nbd7 Nc3 Bd6

The whole plan in ten moves: return the pawn, break with ...c5, expand with ...a6 and ...b5, put the bishop on b7 and finish development.

Against 3.e4: strike back
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 e4 e5 Nf3 exd4 Bxc4 Nc6 O-O Be6 Bxe6 fxe6 Qb3 Qd7

White grabs the centre and you hit it at once. Every piece develops with a threat, and one queen move covers both loose pawns.

Against 7.a4: develop and open the centre
d4 d5 c4 dxc4 Nf3 Nf6 e3 e6 Bxc4 c5 O-O a6 a4 Nc6 Qe2 cxd4 Rd1 Be7 exd4 O-O

When White stops ...b5, put the knight on c6 instead, trade on d4 and castle. White has an isolated d-pawn to look after.

How the coach grades a move

Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.

Best
Nothing better was available.
Good
Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
Playable
A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
Inaccuracy
Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
Mistake
Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
Blunder
Twenty-five or more. Usually material.

Catalogued as D20–D29 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.