Chess Opening Explorer

2. c4 - Queen's Gambit

2. c4 is the Queen's Gambit. White immediately responds to Black's attempt to gain a foothold in the center by striking out with his c-pawn. Though this pawn is not defended and Black can capture it with ... dxc4, doing so will remove Black's d-pawn from the center and give White more opportunities for central control. Therefore, Black often chooses to decline the gambit, which he can do in several ways.

Unlike many gambits in King's pawn openings, the Queen's Gambit is not intended to be a true material sacrifice in exchange for a quick attack or rapid development. In fact, even if Black accepts the gambit pawn, he will almost always find it unacceptably difficult to retain it. The purpose of the gambit is to gain a more subtle positional advantage by undermining Black's control of the center.

Black's responses

Accepting the gambit with 2... dxc4 is by no means a risky decision, but most Black players choose to decline it with 2... e6 or 2... c6 (the Slav defence). More exotic alternatives include the Chigorin defence 2... Nc6 or the Albin Countergambit 2... e5.

Less popular is 2... Nf6?!, the Marshall Defence, allowing 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4, or 2... Bf5!?, which weakens b7.