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Queen's Gambit for White

From the first move: and, against , . If Black takes with , you win the pawn back with and . Against you develop with , trade on d5 and pin the knight with , without falling for the Elephant Trap. Against the Slav, , you stop with .

20 lines in 3 chapters.

The first lesson is free. The rest of the course opens with Premium:

The plans in this course

The pawn comes back by itself

Win the pawn back while you develop

When Black takes with , you don't need to chase the pawn. You play and , or if allowed, and the f1-bishop's diagonal opens towards c4. Then wins the pawn back with a piece that is already well placed. If you try to win it back with the queen or with pawns, you lose development time and Black brings out their pieces before you.

8 in 10 masters choose it here.See dataHide

Over-the-board games, 2300+: 83% of 276. Online, 2200+: 74% of 2,529.

The knight pin

Pin the d5 defender and get the bishop out in time

When Black defends d5 with and , the f6-knight is a key piece. pins it to the queen: if the knight moves, the bishop takes the queen. Careful, it's a pin against the queen, not the king: the knight may move if it wins something bigger in return, so don't grab d5 without calculating (you'll see it in the Elephant Trap). You also develop the c1-bishop before playing , which would shut it in. It works the same if you first traded on d5 with . If Black asks with , there's a simple rule. If they have already played , keep the bishop with . If comes before , take with : after the trade on d5, the d5-pawn loses its best defender; with the black pawn on c6, you stop them taking on c4 with a very sharp gambit. Trading has a price: Black gets the bishop pair, and two bishops against bishop and knight are usually a small edge once the centre opens.

5 in 10 masters choose it here.See dataHide

Over-the-board games, 2300+: 48% of 786. Online, 2200+: 57% of 6,454.

Stopping the b-pawn

Stop Black from holding on to the c4-pawn

In the Slav, the c6-pawn lets Black take on c4 and hold the pawn with . prevents it: if , your a-pawn trades it off. Then you win the c4-pawn back calmly, with the knight or the bishop. If you allow , the extra pawn can stay for a long time.

4 in 10 masters choose it here.See dataHide

Over-the-board games, 2300+: 44% of 156. Online, 2200+: 40% of 1,794.

If Black takes on c4 after

0 of 8 done

You will learn to develop with and and win the pawn back with , without chasing it with the queen.

The most common mistake, on move 5; 12 players in 100 play it. After , offers a bishop trade. After , you have lost time with your bishop.

The pawn comes back by itself

  1. NextIf they answer 5 moves of yoursStart
  2. Not startedIf they check with 6 moves of yoursPaid
  3. Not startedIf they play early6 moves of yoursPaid
  4. Not startedIf they play 6 moves of yoursPaid
  5. Not startedIf they pin with 6 moves of yoursPaid
  6. Not startedIf the bishop comes out later6 moves of yoursPaid
  7. Not startedIf they hit d4 with 5 moves of yoursPaid
  8. Not startedIf they break with 9 moves of yoursPaid

If Black defends with the e-pawn after

You will learn to trade on d5 with , pin the knight with and answer .

The most common mistake, on move 6; 53 players in 100 play it. isn't a blunder, but it misses the moment: after the pin is gone and, after , Black has calmly defended d5. Since came before , removes the knight that defended d5 right away.

The knight pin

If Black plays the Slav after

You will learn to pin with if Black plays , and to stop the b-pawn with if they take on c4.

The knight pinStopping the b-pawn