D20 · Closed · a plan for White

Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense

6/6
1.d4d52.c4dxc43.e4e5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense807k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
67%540k52%
24%190k57%
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov Gambit6.7%54k48%
1.9%15k48%
0.4%3.0k45%
0.3%2.7k47%
0.3%2.2k35%
0%15147%
0%11451%
0%9418%
Famous games in this line2.6k master games
Kasparov, Garry (2812) – Anand, Viswanathan (2781)1999½–½So, W. (2776) – Aronian, L. (2765)20221–0Ding Liren (2801) – Yu Yangyi (2738)2019½–½Ding Liren (2805) – Navara, D. (2734)20191–0Firouzja, Alireza (2766) – Praggnanandhaa, R. (2767)2025½–½Grischuk, A. (2771) – Radjabov, T. (2756)2019½–½Radjabov, Teimour (2744) – Ivanchuk, Vassily (2781)2008½–½Karpov, Anatoly (2760) – Anand, Viswanathan (2765)1997½–½
Heroes of this opening So, W. · Ding Liren
Family
Queen's Gambit
Category
Closed
First move
1.d4
ECO
D20
Line
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5
Classical
★ Read the guide: Queen's Gambit AcceptedExplore all 257 Queen's Gambit lines →
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov GambitD20 4.Bxc4
Nearby lines in the family
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Slav GambitD21 3.Nf3 b5Queen's Gambit Declined: Normal DefenseD35 2…e6 3.Nc3 Nf6Queen's Gambit Accepted: Godes VariationD21 3.Nf3 Nd7
From the archives

The Queen's Gambit appears in the earliest opening manuscripts (c. 1490, Göttingen). It anchored world-championship matches for a century — Capablanca–Alekhine 1927 was practically a Queen's Gambit theme event — and in 2020 a TV show made a 500-year-old pawn offer the most famous opening on the planet. It isn't even a real gambit: Black can't safely keep the pawn.

Study this opening
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