The Queen's Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves:
- 1. d4 d5
- 2. c4
The Queen's Gambit is one of the oldest known chess openings. It was mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript of 1490 and was later analysed by masters such as Gioachino Greco in the seventeenth century. During the early period of modern chess, queen pawn openings were not in fashion, and the Queen's Gambit did not become common until the 1873 tournament in Vienna.
As Steinitz and Tarrasch developed chess theory and increased the appreciation of positional play, the Queen's Gambit grew more popular, reaching its zenith in the 1920s and 1930s, and was played in all but two of 34 games in the 1927 world championship match between José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine.
After World War II, it was less frequently seen, as many Black players moved away from symmetrical openings, tending to use the Indian Defences to combat queen pawn openings.
The Queen's Gambit is still frequently played and it remains an important part of many grandmasters' opening repertoires.
Read more about Queen's Gambit: Overview, Main Variations, Further Reading
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