Queen's Gambit Declined

The Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:

1 d4 d5

2 c4

Instead of 2...dxc4, Black instead plays one of various defenses. A common response by Black is:

2...e6

This is known as the Orthodox Line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the opening Queen's Gambit Declined is mentioned, it is usually assumed to be referring to the Orthodox Line.

The Orthodox Line can be reached by a number of different move orders, such as 1 d4 e6 2 c4 d5; 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5; 1 c4 e6 2 Nc3 d5 3 d4; 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 e6 3 d4; and so on.