Queen's Gambit
D06 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4
Not really a gambit, and the most classical way to fight for the centre.
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
White offers the c-pawn to deflect Black's d-pawn from the centre. If Black takes with dxc4, the pawn cannot be held: b5 is answered by a4, and the pawn falls with White gaining time. So the gambit is temporary, and its real purpose is to trade a wing pawn for central control.
Typical plans
- Build the centre with e3, Nf3 and Nc3, then push for e4 at the right moment.
- Play the minority attack with a4 and b4-b5 against a Black queenside majority.
- Take on d5 at the right moment to fix Black's structure before Black is ready.
What goes wrong
- Trying to hold the c4 pawn as Black. The Queen's Gambit Accepted is playable but not by clinging to material.
- As White, playing Nc3 before c4 and losing the option of recapturing on c4 with the bishop.
- Rushing e4 without preparation and giving Black a target in the centre.
Using the board above
The board starts at the position after 1. d4 d5 2. c4. 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.