The Top 5 favorite games played featuring the Queen’s Gambit!

Before we take a look at some of the games, here's what the Queen's Gambit actually is for people that don't know for whatever reason:

This opening is VERY theoretical and can lead to some very theoretical positions, so if you're that type of player, this is very much recommended for you! This is also extremely popular at the Masters level as it's been played multiple times by many famous players. Anyways, let's now look at some amazing games played by GMs that featured the Queen's Gambit!

5. William Steinitz vs. Joseph Henry Blackburne

This game was played a while ago in 1899 between the legends William Steinitz and Joseph Blackburne. Both were the champions at their time including a few others. Obviously, chess isn't what it was back then and things are much more "proven" with positions and things and they didn't play what you may have played instead. Something different was that Blackburne actually accepted the pawn which isn't very common. I love this game as it displays 2 brilliant sacrifices that GMs today may have not seen as well...well played Joseph!

4. Vishwanathan Anand vs. Levon Aronian

This game isn't that famous or isn't as famous some of the other games that will be featured on this blog, but its till a great game played by Anand. This actually started as the Indian game but transposed into the QGD(Queen's Gambit Declined). I actually believe that Aronian was definitely better until the mid-game, until he played 27...Rxh5. It seems like a simple and nice move as white gains a pawn, but after a 6 move sequence, it actually hangs the rook, which Anand found. Another mistake was when Aronian castled king side. This led to a lingering threat for the h-file which ultimately led to Aronian downfall....this was a just a really nice game played by both sides

3. Raymond Keene vs. G. C. Lund

Finally, a game that white won! This game, like the one above isn't AS famous as the other 3 in this blog, but it's still a really nice game! This was actually one of the first games my coach showed me that included the Queen's Gambit! He showed as it was the perfect game to display the common fact: Always develop your pieces. In addition, this game was played by Raymond Keene, one of my favorite players, and is also known for playing the QG a lot. So all in all, this is a game I thoroughly enjoy looking.

2. Ossip S. Bernstein vs. Jose Raul Capablanca

This is an AMAZING game in my opinion, especially the AWESOME sequence that Capablanca found in the end! Qb2 is just such a satisfying move as whatever white tries to think of will either lead to mate or a MAJOR loss of material. I feel like had Bernstein seen this combination, and had not blundered, This could have continued into a long endgame which definitely would have been fun to see. Sadly Bernstein didn't see this continuation and resigned. While this may have not been the most theoretical QGD game, it was still a really good game, with an amazing end.

1. Boris Spassky vs. Robert Fischer