Queen's Gambit Declined
D30 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6
The most reliable answer to d4, and the one that has never been refuted.
Analysing from a photo?
This page needs a FEN or a board you set up by hand. The app reads a position straight from a photograph of a real board or a screenshot, and keeps your saved positions between sessions.
The idea
Black supports d5 with e6 and declines the pawn entirely. The resulting structure is the same one the French produces, with the same difficult light-squared bishop, but with a tempo more and against a d-pawn opening where the position stays closed for longer. It has been the choice at world championship level for over a century for a reason.
Typical plans
- As Black, free the position with c5 or with the exchange dxc4 followed by c5 at the right moment.
- As Black, solve the bishop with the Tartakower plan of b6 and Bb7.
- As White, use the minority attack: a4, b4 and b5 against Black's queenside pawns.
What goes wrong
- Passive development as Black. The QGD is solid, not passive, and there is a difference.
- As White, exchanging on d5 too early and releasing the central tension for nothing.
- Forgetting that the bishop on c8 is the whole problem for Black. Every good plan addresses it.
Using the board above
The board starts at the position after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6. Play the continuation you normally meet, then ask the engine what it would do. That is more useful than reading a line, because it answers the question you actually have, which is what happens in the position you keep reaching.
One caution worth carrying into it: an engine evaluates an opening on the assumption that both sides then play perfectly. A line rated a tenth of a pawn better whose middlegames you have never played is worth less to you than a line rated slightly worse that produces positions you understand. More on that here.