Queen's Gambit Accepted

The Queen's Gambit Accepted, 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4, takes the offered pawn and gives up Black's foothold in the center. It is not a true gambit. White can regain the pawn at once with 3. Qa4+, and efforts to hang on to it tend to rebound on Black. After 3. e4 b5 4. a4, for example, the base of the queenside chain comes under fire. Black's real aim is to spend the tempi White uses on recovering c4 developing quickly and preparing ...c5 or ...e5. The engine rates the position as roughly balanced, and ECO assigns the complex the codes D20 to D29.

The main line begins with 3. Nf3, the Normal Variation, which rules out ...e5 and delays the recovery of the pawn. In the classical treatment, 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5, Black strikes at d4. Once Black plays ...cxd4, an exd4 recapture leaves White with an isolated queen's pawn and a lively middlegame, while a piece recapture dissolves the center and usually produces an even game. After 6. O-O a6 Black threatens to gain time with ...b5 against the bishop. White may allow it with 7. Qe2, the old main line, prepare to meet it with 7. Bb3, prevent it with 7. a4, or exchange queens early with 7. dxc5. The immediate 6...cxd4, the Steinitz Variation, is now rare. Black's other third moves include the Rosenthal Variation, 3...e6, and the Gunsberg Defense, 3...c5. The Showalter Variation, 3...Nf6 4. Nc3, also called the Two Knights Variation, becomes a genuine gambit after 4...a6 5. e4 b5.

3. e4, the Saduleto or Central Variation, occupies the center at once and is regarded as critical. The usual answer is the heavily analyzed McDonnell Defense, 3...e5, which typically continues 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 Nc6 6. O-O Be6. The Greco Variation, 3...b5, clings to the pawn. Play usually runs 4. a4 c6 5. axb5 cxb5 6. Nc3, and the line gained followers in the 2020s through 6...Qb6, which often leads to exchange sacrifices. The Alekhine System, 3...Nf6, provokes 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6, a pattern familiar from Alekhine's Defense. The Modern Defense, 3...Nc6, pressures d4 in Chigorin style. The Old Variation, 3. e3, used by Anatoly Karpov, simply prepares Bxc4. Black can answer 3...e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 with an isolated pawn structure, or transpose to the main lines with 3...e6. On Lichess 3. Nc3 is the most frequent move, although Raetsky and Chetverik dismiss it because it leaves d4 and e5 uncovered. The Accelerated Mannheim, 3. Qa4+, is rare because the early queen can be harassed.

The modern understanding dates from the 1886 World Championship, where Steinitz returned the pawn to leave Zukertort with an isolated d-pawn. The opening was still viewed with some suspicion in the early 20th century, until Alekhine's ideas brought it into top-level play in the 1930s. It faded after the Second World War as the Indian defenses took over, then returned to elite repertoires in the late 1990s and is now considered sound. In online play White scores noticeably better than Black.