😺 A Cats Guide To The Queens Gambit 😺

Today’s blog will be a continuation of my blog series, The Complete Beginner Guide, in this series I already have 6 brilliant installments, so once you finish reading this one be sure to check out my others, and now without further ado i show you The Complete Beginner Guide To The Queens Gambit, one of the most popular openings in chess, and by far the most played gambit of them all!

This blog will cover most of the key lines and variations and the main ideas for both white and black in this opening, along with a few traps of course.

What is the Queens Gambit?

Now you may be asking yourself, so what exactly is the Queens gambit? Well the Queens gambit starts off with white playing the first move d4, not e4 like the majority of my blogs or the majority of players, but d4 is the second most popular opening move for white, and all openings after this are known as queens pawn openings. After d4 most of the players with black will respond by copying whites move (publishers note, this is foreshadowing) with the symmetrical move d5, yes they can also play Nf6 however this is a blog about the Queens gambit, and typically that will not lead to the Queens gambit, so i will not talk about that move. After d5 there are several options for white, such as Nf3 the Zukertort variation, or Bf4, the much hated London system (if you want to learn more about this opening i have already made a blog about it), however instead of those moves, most white players continue with c4, the queens gambit!

So why play the Queens gambit? Well the Queens gambit is one of the most popular openings for white in all of chess, this is because of the gambit gives you several advantages, fist of all it adds a lot of pressure onto blacks d pawn, in the future white could play cxd5, trading whites flank pawn for blacks center pawn, giving white the advantage by having more center pawns, and speaking of two central pawns it is a often occurrence (especially in the accepted variation) that white will get two uncontested central pawns, and that obviously is a great advantage! Other advantage is that it gives white quick development, there are often many open diagonals and lines for white to develop there pieces fast, another reason why it is so popular is that it often avoids very sharp lines, which could be very good for beginners. So overall the Queens gambit gives white many great advantages, and that is why it is played so much.

However it is not all doom and gloom for black, unlike many other gambits in which the home side has the advantage of familiarity and playing on there home turf, here since the Queens gambit is so well known that many black players will also know how to play against it. Meanwhile another thing is that say black goes for the declined variation or the Slav, black is really in no peril unlike other more attacking orientated gambits, so black could just quickly develop try to trade of pieces and limit any of whites strategic advantages and after this there really is no immediate tactic or checkmate threat to worry about, so in a sense the Queens gambit does not really work like most other "gambits" like the Scotch, Kings, Danish or Stafford.

The Queens Gambit Accepted 

The first variation i will show you today is the accepted line, where black accepts whites gambit with 2...dxc4. To dxc4 white has quite a few responses, the most popular for white being 3.Nc3, to which black most often continues with Nf6, further developing there pieces, to this white should strike forth in the center by playing 4.e4, meaning white now has uncontested occupation of both of there central squares, this is why the accepted variation is so bad for black, as it allows for white to play e4, thus now dominating in the center. Here black will counter with e6, attempting to stop white from overrunning the center with d5, however now white will happily retake there gambited pawn with 5.Bxc4, now not only does white have a incredible position, but white also is now equal on material. Here black will play Bg4 pinning whites knight, white does not care however and goes forward with 6.e5, kicking the knight away, Nd5 and white further defends there knight with 7.Bd2 and here the game typically continues with Bxc3 8.bxc3 O-O 9.Nf3 c6 10.O-O b4 11.Bd3 and overall whites position is incredibly dominant, a 63% win rate and a 3.5 advantage to white even tho its still equal with material!

The next move white can play is 3.e3, the second most popular move for white, here black usually will respond with Nf6, however first i want to show you the line if black plays b5 trying to protect there pawn if its under attack, if black plays b5 then white will continue with 4.a4, trying to undermine blacks pawn chain, and here most black players (exactly 50% actually) will play c6 trying to defend there pawn, however this blunders to 5.axb4 cxb4, and 6.Qf3 attacking the rook! Nc6 7.Qxc6 Bd7 8.Qf3 and now white is up a knight and has a 65% win rate, white should win.

Now of course most players with black instead of playing 3...b5 will instead play 3...Nf3, now here white recaptures there gambited pawn with 4.Bxc4, and here black likely will play e6, white will continue to develop with 5.Nf3 Bb4+ checking whites king, so here white can block in two ways, 6.Nc3 or Bd2, first of all if white goes for 6.Bd2 then black will trade with Bxd2 7.Nbxd2, both sides will castle O-O 8.O-O black now develops there second knight with Nc6 and now white tries to expand on the queen side with 9.a3 and now black copies whites idea with a6 10.b4 b5 wait seriously black? Copying white again? *Sighs* okay then its fine, its fine! Well then white plays 11.Bd3, in the end white is doing a lot better, as white has a 59% win rate and a +1.7 advantage.

 However like i said white can also block blacks check with 6.Nc3 instead of Bd2, here black will usually respond with Bxc3+ once again trading, 7.bxc3 and here both sides yet again castle O-O 8.O-O, black continues like before with Nc6, and here many white players play a rather interesting move, that is 9.Ba3 blacks rook on f8, Re8 and here white plays a slight inaccuracy with 10.Bb5, dropping there previous high win rate and good advantage down a lot, Bd7 and here white plays yet another mistake with 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxd7 Nexd7 and now black is ahead a knight and thus now has a 70% win rate!

 What white should have played instead is 10.Qc2, not only is it the best move but this also increases whites win rate from 56% to 60%, here black often continues with a6 11.Bd3 b5 12.e4 and here whites position is great, white has a 65% win rate!

 The final move white can play in response to the accepted variation is 3.e4, to which black will respond with e6 as usual. Of course now white will continue with the normal 4.Bxc4 Nf6 5.Nc3, now black pins whites knight with Bb4, however white ignores the pin and instead goes forward with 6.e5 attacking the knight, if you ask me this is very similar to my first line, with it continuing the same as that line with Nd5 7.Bd2 Bxc3 8.bxc3 black now castles with O-O, white gets ready to castle by playing 9.Nf3 c6 10.O-O b5 11.Bd3, and here white has a 67% win rate and a +3.4 advantage, as you can see the Accepted variation is not a very good line for black, with white usually get a big advantage, so black should not play this.

 So as you can see now the Accepted variation is not very good for black as it often quickly gives white a good advantage, so if black is smart they should not play it.

The Marshal Defense.

The next line we have is the Marshal Defense, where black responds to our gambit with 2...Nf6, and there are 2 main options for white here, 3.Nc3 or cxd4, lets go over Nc3 first as its more popular. After 3.Nc3 most players with black will follow up with e6, which actually turns it into the Queens gambit declined line which i shall talk about later. Because of this i will talk about its next moves when i go over the Queens gambit declined lines.

 Instead of 3...e6 that turns it into the declined variation black often also plays the move 3...dxc4, accepting the gambit, to which most players with white will respond with 4.e4, taking control of the center whilst also attacking blacks pawn with whites bishop on f1. Here black will typically continue much like in the accepted line with e6, and it actually continues almost exactly the same with 5.Bxc4 Bb4 6.e5 Nd5 7.Bd2, and now it could continue with the usual Bxc3, however here black equally plays the move Nxc3, and this line usually continues with 8.bxc3 Be7 9.Nf3 O-O 10.O-O, and now black develops there knight with Nc6 11.Bd3 and here white is quite far ahead, they have a 63% win rate.

 Instead of 3...dxc4 black often also plays 3...Bf5, to this white usually will continue with 4.Nf3, and black will typically defend there d pawn with e6, and white shall pin blacks f6 knight with 5.Bg5 and black will further protect there knight while also getting ready to castle with Be7 6.e3 O-O, now white develops there light squared bishop with 7.Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3, now black tries to ki8ck away whites bishop with h6 9.Bh4 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nc6 11.O-O Nd5, overall the position is very balanced, as this position has a 48% win rate to white and a 47% win rate to black, so each side has pretty good chances at winning this.

Now instead of 3.Nc3, it is actually considered better for white to play cxd5, to this black will naturally retake with Nxd4, allowing white to kick out the knight with 4.e4 Nf6, now white further develops with 5.Nc3 e6, white develops there other knight with 6.Nf3, and black yet again pinning whites knight with Bb4 7.Bd3, both sides now castle O-O 8.O-O Nc6, and now white breaks forward in the center with 9.e5 and black moves away with Nd5, so white now plays 10.Bxh7!! Kxf7 11.Ng5+, black tries to run the king away with Kg6 12.Qg4 now black tries to attack whites queen f5 13.Qg3 f4 now black attacks whites queen again, but this is to much now 14.Bxf4 Nxf4 15.Nxe6 and now you fork the king and queen, GG!...however its not over, as on the next move half of the black players play Kh7, blundering 16.Qxg7# GG! 

The Queens Gambit Declined

Now we have the most popular Queens gambit declined variation, where black plays e6, white has several options but most players go for the standard 3.Nc3, now both sides continue to develop there knights Nf6 4.Nf3, now black pins whites knight with Bb4, however white now counter pins with 5.Bg5 and black now castles O-O 6.e3, and black now tries to kick out whites annoying g5 bishop with h6, so white moves it away with 7.Bh4 Nbd7 8.Bd3, now black starts to pressure the center with the bold move c5, however white just simply plays 9.O-O and now big trades hap;pen in the center with cxd4 10.exd4 dxc4 11.Bxc4, after all the dust has settled the position is pretty much equal all round, a 50% win rate for white versus a 45% win rate for black.

 Next instead of 4.Nf3 many players with white will also play 4.Bg5, the Modern variation, to this black will usually overprotect there knight with Be7, which also gets black ready to castle. White now has two potions, ether e3 or Nf3, however both moves actually turn into the same position in by move 6 so they do not really have any difference, so say white plays 5.e3, then black castles and white plays 6.Nf3, black now kicks whites bishop away with h6 7.Bh4 b6, now white trades pawns with 8.cxd5, however this is a mistake as black can play Nxe5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 and now the win rate slightly favors black, with 46% to black to white 45%.

 Stockfish instead recommends white to play 8.Rc1, however since this is a bit of a idiotic move and since this line does actually put black into the advantage i would recommend white to instead play 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 and now its still pretty balanced but white is now slightly ahead on win rate.

Now instead of playing 3.Nf3 or Bg5 white often also plays 3.cxd5, here black obviously recaptures with exd5, and white now pins blacks knight with 4.Bg5, black over defends there knight again with Be7 6.e3 O-O white now develops there bishop with 7.Bd3 black tries to further defend there d pawn by playing c6 and white now creates a queen-bishop battery by playing 8.Qc2, adding pressure to blacks king. Black kicks out whites g5 bishop with h6 9.Bh4 black now develops there other knight with Nbd7 10.Nge2 Re8 11.O-O Nf8 12.f3 here white has quite a decent advantage, they have a 54% win rate.

 The Slav Defense 

Then there is the Slav Defense with black playing 2...c6. Here white will typically respond with 3.Nc3, and black shall also develop there knight with Nf6. White will now develop there second knight by playing 4.Nf3, and here black has several options, most popular of them being e6, however e6 is a different opening entirely, as its the Semi-Slav defense, which i shall show later, so instead i will show you the 4...Bf5 line. To this white usually will play 5.Bg5, to which black will play e6 trying to defend there knight better, 6.e3 Be7 and white plays 7.Bd3 trying to trade, and white has several options, first is simply trading with Bxd3 8.Qxd3 and now both sides castle O-O 9.O-O, and black develops there final knight with Nbd7 10.Rac1 h6 11.Bh4, and overall this position is very equal, and this shows in the win rate as it is 48% to 45% in whites favor.

 Instead of trading black may also play 7...Bg6, to which white usually follows up with 8.O-O, now black simply develops there second knight with Nbd7 9.Rc1 and now black also castles O-O 10.a3 Rc8 11.b4, and by the end black position is actually better! Even tho according to the engine its completely equal with 0.0, but black has a 57% win rate!

 After 4.Nf3 another move black can play is accepting whites gambit with 4...dxc4, the Open Slav, and here whites main line move is actually the rather strange looking move 5.a4! The reason why this is played by white as it prevents black from playing b4 and thus solidifying there advanced c pawn. To this black will just simply play Bf5, now white attacks blacks advanced c pawn by playing 6.e3, revealing a attack from the f1 bishop, e6 7.Bxc4 and now black tries to pin w2hites knight with Bb4, hover white gets out of the ping by just castling, and now black castles as well, 9.Qe2 Nbd7, and now white pushes forward in the center with 10.e5, attacking blacks bishop, Bg6 and white pushes forward again with 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3, overall this position is very equal, each side has pretty good opportunities to try and win.

 Another move white can play after 4...Bg4 is 5.e3, to this black now copies white by playing e6 6.Be2, now if black copies white again, i will...i will do something to black that will make them regret copying white! Oh and thank you black, as here most black players play Bb4, thank you black, i knew i could rely on you to not copy, unlike that idiot white! Um...okay *cough cough* um with that now out of my system, here white plays 7.O-O and black plays...ARGGHHH O-O??? I thought you knew better then that black! Thats it i quit! You heard me, I QUIT!

*Leaves*

...

Meow 😺!

😺 Well um Meowdy everyone, this is Noah's cat and official mascot, Meow meow, and since Noah just had a mental break down and now will no longer narate...sorry i meant narrate or whatever you call it, well since Noah will no longer narrate this blog then i shall have to take his place...so enjoy 😻!!!

😼 Meow so where was Noah at? Oh yeah the black cat plays O-O 😹! So after this the white cat moves there little prawn (hmmmm prawn 😻) to 8.a3, attacking the black cats bishop, so the black cat then moves the bishop to a5 9.b5 Bc7 and apparently the black cat has a mouse sized advantage, win rate says the black cat wins 50% matches to white cats 46%, meanwhile the fish (hmmmm fish 😻) says that black cat has a 0.2 advantage 🙀!

 😽 Meow and lastly for the Slav, after 4...Bg4 the white cat may also play 5.Ne5, which the fish thinks is the best move for white, attacking the black cats bishop while also adding pressure onto the black cats position 😸! To this black usually plays Bh5, moving the bishop out of danger! Here the cheeky little white cat will play 6.Qb3, attacking blacks undefended b pawn! Black will defend with Qb6, 7.c5 and white now attacks blacks queen, Qxb3 8.axb3, now black offers a horse trade with Nbd7 9.Bf4 Nxe5 10.Bxe5 Nd7 11.Bg3, and here the white cats position is very good, they have a 60% win rate here, however its not all over, as black still has good chances of getting ahead 😼

 The Semi-Slav Defense 

😸 Meow and finally there is the Semi-Slav Defense, here after in our previous line where the white cat plays 3.Nc3, there are two ways of getting into the Semi-Slav, first black can go into the Semi-Slav immediately by moving there prawn to e6 (after this white will still play 4.Nf3, allowing black to continue with Nf6), the Accelerated move order Semi-Slav (wow what a lame name, i would name it something cool like the Catnip opening 😹!), or black can first play 3...Nf6, to which of course most white players will respond with 4.Nf3, and then move the prawn to e3, ether way you will still get the same position😽.

🐱 Meow hmm its just starting to dawn onto me that this pawn structure reminds me of something...now what was that opening my coach Mittens taught me all those years ago? 😾 HSSSS now i remember...the cursed London system! HSSSSS 😾!

😺 Meow okay so what next? Well here the white cat has several options, first the most popular for white is 5.Bg5, pinning blacks horse to the queen, so black unpins the knight by playing Be7, and now white defends there hanging c prawn with 6.e6, and black now plays O-O taking there king to safety, white plays 7.Bd3 Nbd7 and now white also castles with 8.O-O, and here the black cat is very annoyed at the white cats g5 bishop 😾, so they move there prawn to h6, attacking the g5 bishop, forcing the white cat to play 9.Bh5 , and here black decides to trade the prawns with dxc4 10.Bxc4, and here yet again black tries to attack whites bishop, this time with b5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.Rd1 a6, and here as the opening comes to a close both sides yet again are pretty much all equal, with the fish saying white only has a slight 0.5 advantage on the evaluation chocolate bar and the win rate at 50% for white to blacks 44% 😸.

😹 Meow instead of 5.Bg5 whites second most popular move is 5.e3, here the black cat has two main moves, first there is Nbd7, and here white usually develops there bishop with 6.Bd3, and now most cats with black will play dxc4, trading the prawns, 7.Bxc4 and much like our previous line black cat now attacks the bishop with b5 8.Bd3 a6, now white defends there king with 9.O-O, and now black should play c5, paw striking further forward into the center, and if white takes with 10.dxc5 then Nxc5 and the black horse not only attacks whites bishop, forcing them to move away with 11.Bc2, but the knight is also in a great outpost square, adding pressure to whites position, after 11.Bc2 then black does not trade queens but instead plays Bb7, taking the long diagonal, 12.Qc2 Be7 and here its pretty good for black, the fish says the evaluation chocolate bar is at 0.0, however black also has a pretty good 52% win rate to whites 41% 😼!

 😺Meow instead of 5...Nbd7 a lot of black cats also play Be7, to this the white cat still plays 6.Bd6, and now both sides castle, and now black plays Nbd7, and here white tries to further defend there c prawn by playing 8.b3 and the black cat now copies white by also playing b6 9.Bb2 Bb7 (he he Noah would have gone insane with all this move copying 😹) Now white connects there rooks with 10.Qe2 and now both cats do some mindless shuffling with Rc8 11.Rfd1 Qc7 12.Rac1 Qb8 *yawns*, but at last now we finally get some action with white breaking through in the center with 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Qxe4, overall the white cat has a superior position, 😸 much like how cats are superior to dogs 😹, this is because white has a lot more space, in the center, mean while all of blacks pieces are cramped behind the 6th rank, this shows as white has a 59% win rate 😻.

 😸Meow and for my last line we have if the white cat plays 5.Bf4, to this the black cat typically offers a trade with Bd6, a trade which white usually accepts with 6.Bxd6 Qxd6, and now white opens up there remaining bishop with 7.e3 O-O, now white develops there bishop with 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O, and here black paw strikes forward with the move e5! And here a giant fat cat sized 😹 trade happens with 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Qxe5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Qxd5, and as the dust settles, the black cat wins slightly more, with the win rate at 47% to black and 41% to white, this is thanks to black having the two open (or semi open) files, along with a slight space advantage 😼.

 😽Meow well that is all for today kittens, i hope you liked it, i did my best trying to fill in for Noah today😸!

 *The door suddenly swings open, @FullCrowdedBadger strolls out*

@FullCrowdedBadger : "Meowdy 😺! Is this Meow meow de Alwis? Well i am suing you for using my trademarked "Meowdy", i want 1 million Kg's of catnip😾 !"

Meow meow : "Uh oh 😿, um well it looks like i gotta skedaddle!"

*Jumps out of window*

@FullCrwodedBadger "You come back here 😾!!!"

*Jumps out of window as well*

I hope you enjoyed this blog, and agree that this is a great opening. Special shout out to @Cassian_Cashout for creating the thumbnail of this blog, he also makes really good blogs as well, so be sure to check out his blogs. If you want to see more of my blogs make sure to follow me @NoahdeAlwis

And finally special thanks to Meow meow for all her help in this blog 😻!

(P.S, please do not sue me @FullCrowdedBadger , me to poor to afford 1 million kilos of catnip)