Chess Openings - The Queen's Gambit

The Queen's Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4) is very old, with recorded use dating back over 500 years. Historically, however, King's Pawn Openings were much more popular. The Queen's Gambit truly came into fashion when world champions Jose Raul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine began playing it extensively in the 1920's.

The Queen's Gambit is an aggressive attack on black's centre pawn. In fact, white appears to be sacrificing a pawn on the second move! However, the Queen's Gambit is not really a true 'gambit' or sacrifice. White is able to regain the pawn with little difficulty. If black tries to hold on to the material advantage, he will be overwhelmed in the process.

After the Queen's Gambit has been offered, black has two main responses. He may choose to accept the gambit by capturing the pawn. Alternatively, he may choose to decline the gambit by bolstering the defence of his own pawn.

The Queen's Gambit Accepted

When black captures the pawn, 2... dxc4, it is the Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA). By trading a centre pawn for a flank pawn, black is essentially giving up the centre at an early stage. White will try to solidify his control of the centre, at which point a strong attack on one of the wings becomes possible. Because of these weaknesses, the QGA is much less popular than the following two options.

The Queen's Gambit Declined

When black does not capture the pawn, and defends his own pawn with 2... e6, it is the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD). The QGD is a solid defense. 2... e6 has the advantages of firmly entrenching the d pawn and opening up developmental lines for the King's Bishop. The main disadvantage with the QGD is that the black Queen's Bishop is blocked in. The QGD is a very popular defense.

The Slav Defense

A strong alternative to the QGD is 2... c6. This is the Slav Defense. The opening gets it's name from the many Slavic masters who studied it in the early 1900's.

The Slav has several advantages over the QGD that make it desirable. Primarily, it does not block in the Queen's Bishop. It also avoids a pin of the King's Bishop on f6 that occurs frequently in the QGD. Along with the QGD, the Slav is a very popular defense.

How Common is the Queen's Gambit?

Very Common at all Levels

Coming out of the Closed Game (1. d4 d5), the Queen's Gambit crushes all other moves in terms of popularity. Expect to see 2. c4 in about 75% of games.

Responses to the Queen's Gambit vary in popularity, with the Slav coming out on top, and the QGA at the bottom. Approximate percentages are shown below. Alternative moves are rare enough that they have been omitted.

1. Slav - 50%
2. QGD - 40%
3. QGA - 10%