Queen's Pawn Game

The Queen's Pawn Game begins with 1. d4, a move that only 1. e4 surpasses in popularity. The pawn takes control of c5 and e5, releases the c1-bishop, and stands on a square already guarded by the queen. That built-in protection makes the opening phase less forcing than after 1. e4, so the play usually develops along closed, maneuvering lines instead of open tactical ones. White threatens 2. e4 with a broad two-pawn center, and nearly every Black reply aims to stop or later undermine that.

The most common answer is 1...d5, which covers e4 and c4 and keeps the d-pawn from advancing further. 1...Nf6, the Indian Defense, contests e4 with a piece while leaving Black's choice of pawn structure open, and 1...f5, the Dutch Defense, does so with a flank pawn at some cost to king safety. A second approach strikes at d4: 1...e5 is the Englund Gambit, regarded as unsound but tricky, while 1...c5 is the Old Benoni, where White normally answers 2. d5 and obtains a space advantage in a closed position. A third group tolerates 2. e4 and aims for transposition into a King's Pawn defense: 1...e6 (the Horwitz Defense) into the French, 1...c6 into the Caro-Kann, 1...d6 into the Pirc, 1...g6 into the Modern, 1...b6 (the English Defense) into Owen's Defense, and 1...Nc6 (the Mikenas Defense) into the Nimzowitsch. In practice White often declines that invitation and stays in d4 territory with 2. c4 or 2. Nf3.

Against 1...d5, White's principal try is 2. c4, the Queen's Gambit. The variations grouped under this name cover the alternatives, many of them setup-based: 2. Nf3 (the Zukertort Variation), the London System with 2. Bf4 or 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4, the Colle System with 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3, and the Torre Attack with 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5. More direct options include 2. Nc3 (the Chigorin Variation), 2. Bg5 (the Levitsky Attack) and 2. f4 (the Mason Attack), and the dubious Blackmar–Diemer Gambit arises after 2. e4.

The name's meaning has narrowed over time. When 1. e4 dominated nineteenth-century practice, all 1. d4 openings were lumped together under this label; once the Queen's Gambit became the main line, the term came to mean 1. d4 games without it, and the hypermodern Indian Defenses were later given names of their own. Today it can refer either to every game starting 1. d4 or only to those avoiding the main gambit lines. Engines rate the position as roughly balanced, and on Lichess White scores slightly better than Black.