Chastity’s Ultimate Queen’s Gambit Study

(this is a work in progress and this is my favorite opening for white. Second is the London System)

I want to make a complete study of the Queen’s Gambit Chess Opening (not the Netflix series named after it, which I have not seen). I love playing this opening but I have never really analyzed it as much as I should. I want to specialize in this opening when I am playing white. I am collecting my notes on this topic when I find the time. Because lichess stores every game I have ever played, I can go back to every time I played this opening and find out what went right or wrong. I can then analyze my own losses and find out in hindsight what I SHOULD have done in that game. This could potentially help me the next time.

I am quite busy with Walmart and school, but I plan to update this post as I play more games and have more data. Also, I am still trying to figure out my favorite opening for black. I like the Scandinavian most but am exploring other options too.

The Queen’s Gambit is not only an extremely cool sounding name for a Chess opening, it is also highly effective if played correctly. Almost everyone knows the position of the Queen’s Gambit.

1. d4 d5 2. c4

The Queen’s Gambit

The central idea here is that white wants black to take the pawn. If black does capture the pawn, the position is called Queen’s Gambit Accepted. If it declines by playing e6, it is called the Queen’s Gambit Declined. But really, any other move would still qualify as declining the gambit. However, e6 is the best move for black in this position. I will explain my reasoning for this later. If they accept it, then white must play e4 for the best possible move. GothamChess recommends this and I agree with his reasoning.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4

Queen’s Gambit Accepted

There are two really good things to do if your opponent does take the pawn on c4. The option I recommend is pawn to e4. This leads to what is called the Queen’s Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4

Queen’s Gambit Accepted: Saduleto Variation

In this position white is already at an advantage because they have moved both center pawns forward two squares and can capture back the c4 pawn. If white plays reasonably well from here, the win is almost guaranteed.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6

Queen’s Gambit Declined

Black has declined the gambit and now white must make a different plan. White should NOT capture the pawn on d5 because then the e6 pawn will capture back and allow both of black’s bishops free movement for the rest of the game. Instead, there are two really good moves white can do. My favorite is to move the knight to c3 to block a potential check by black’s bishop.

By playing e6,

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6

Slav Defence

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qa4+

Chastity’s Counter Check Trap

In this position, black’s dark squared bishop pins the white’s knight against the king. White moves queen to a4 and delivers check first. The best move for black in this position is to move the knight to c6 because it is literally the only move to not lose the bishop. If black plays any other move, white kills the bishop next turn and is already winning. But even if they do play Nc6, white can still attack the bishop with pawn to a3. White is in a good position. The only sad part is that black can kill the white knight but we can still capture back with bxc3. This means the pawn also defends the d4 pawn which is great because the queen no longer defends it. Being in a good position makes it worth the loss of the knight in this specific case.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qa4+ Nc6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3

Notes on this position will be added later.

Games in this position:
https://lichess.org/0zaDKKeo (will analyze this later)

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Video Resources

GothamChess has some good videos on the Queen’s Gambit and I have learned a lot by watching them multiple times to drill it into my memory.

How To Play The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen’s Gambit short by Levy Rozman