This is part of my series of notes on the most common positions I find myself in when playing the Queen’s Gambit. This is my favorite opening when playing the white pieces and I have been studying it for some time. The act of writing things down helps me organize my thoughts and memorize what I have learned.

The format of these notes is as follows:

• Name of Opening/Variation
• Move list in Chess notation
• One or more paragraphs of notes
• Evaluation of good or bad moves from this position

Queen’s Gambit Accepted

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4

The majority of my wins while playing white come because black has accepted the Queen’s Gambit. White has 4 really good moves in this position, 3 of which involve plans to capture back the pawn on c4.

! Good moves for White

• e4 is the most obvious good move here. Moving the king’s pawn here allows both of white’s bishops to get out. White will most likely take back the pawn on c4 if black doesn’t come up with a defense for it quick.
• Nf3 is a way to delay deciding what to do with the c4 pawn after it is accepted. This remains a popular option because white may want to later combine the knight and bishop for an attack on f7 but has not decided what they will do with their e pawn yet.
• e3 Moving the e pawn only one square
• Qa4+ The white queen puts the black king in check and also guarantees that it can take the c4 pawn regardless of what black does to get out of check. The only danger is the fact that the queen could be under attack later if it comes out this soon.

? Bad moves for White

There are really no obviously bad moves in this position unless someone was trying to lose the game on purpose.