Queen's Gambit


The Queen's Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves:
The Queen's Gambit is one of the oldest known chess openings. It was mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript of 1490 and was later analysed by masters such as Gioachino Greco in the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was recommended by Phillip Stamma and is sometimes known as the Aleppo Gambit in his honour. During the early period of modern chess, queen pawn openings were not in fashion and the Queen's Gambit did not become common until the 1873 tournament in Vienna.
As Wilhelm Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch developed chess theory and increased the appreciation of, the Queen's Gambit grew more popular, reaching its zenith in the 1920s and 1930s, and was played in all but two of 34 games in the 1927 World Championship match between José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine.
After the resumption of international chess activity following World War II, it was less frequently seen, as many Black players moved away from symmetrical openings, tending to use Indian Defences to combat queen pawn openings.
The Queen's Gambit is still frequently played and it remains an important part of many grandmasters' opening repertoires.

Overview

With 2.c4, White threatens to exchange a wing pawn for a centre pawn and dominate the with e2–e4. This is not a true gambit, as Black cannot hold the pawn, for example: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5? 4.a4 c6? 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Qf3! winning a piece.
The Queen's Gambit is divided into two major categories based on Black's response: the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Queen's Gambit Declined. In the QGA, Black plays 2...dxc4, temporarily giving up the centre to obtain freer development. In the QGD, Black usually plays to hold d5. Frequently Black will be cramped, but Black aims to exchange pieces and use the at c5 and e5 to free their game.

Variations

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4:
Technically, any Black response other than 2...dxc4 is a Queen's Gambit Declined, but the Slav, Albin Countergambit, and Chigorin Defense are generally treated separately. There are so many QGD lines after 2...e6, that many of them are distinctive enough to warrant separate treatment. The Orthodox Defense and the Tarrasch Defense are two important examples. See Queen's Gambit Declined for more.
There are many other possible responses:
If White chooses to fianchetto his king's bishop, the game transposes into the Catalan Opening.