for Black · intermediate
Queen's Gambit Accepted
4/4
1.d4d52.c4dxc4
Black takes the c4 pawn and concedes the centre temporarily in return for quick piece development and counterplay with ...c5 and ...e6. It is a sound, dynamic way to meet the Queen's Gambit.
Key ideas
- Grab c4 but don't cling to the pawn—return it for development
- Free the position quickly with ...e6, ...c5 and ...Nc6
- Develop the light-squared bishop actively before ...e6
- Aim for open, active piece play against White's centre
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Queen's Gambit Accepted20.8M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
40%8.2M56%
0.7%139k54%
0.4%92k56%
0.3%59k53%
0.2%45k55%
0.1%17k56%
Famous games in this line24k master games
Kramnik, Vladimir (2807) – Kasparov, Garry (2847)Giri, A. (2785) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Kasparov, Garry (2838)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Kasparov, Garry (2838)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Kasparov, Garry (2838)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Kasparov, Garry (2838)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Kasparov, Garry (2838)Carlsen, M. (2837) – Caruana, F. (2799)Heroes of this opening Kasparov, Garry · Kramnik, Vladimir
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation3.e3 · 5 deeper linesQueen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation3.Nf3 · 28 deeper linesQueen's Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation3.e4 · 9 deeper linesQueen's Gambit Accepted: Accelerated Mannheim Variation3.Qa4
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Queen's Gambit appears in the Göttingen manuscript, written around 1500. It anchored world-championship matches for decades — 32 of the 34 games of Capablanca–Alekhine 1927 were Queen's Gambit Declined — and in 2020 a Netflix series watched by 62 million households emptied the world's chess-set shelves. It isn't even a real gambit: Black cannot safely keep the pawn.
Study this opening