Queen's Gambit Accepted

also known as: QGA · 2...dxc4

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4

Named after

Not an eponym — Black takes the pawn.

Origin

Analyzed in the earliest sources (Göttingen manuscript, Lucena); rehabilitated repeatedly, most notably in the 1930s and by Kasparov's use in the 1980s.

The story

Taking the pawn looks like an amateur's greed — every beginner learns Black cannot hold c4 — but the point is subtler: Black surrenders the center to gain free development and the ...c5 break, arguing the pawn recapture costs White time. The opening's reputation has swung with fashion for five hundred years: suspect in the classical era, trusted by Alekhine (who defended it in his 1937 title match), and a periodic elite weapon ever since. It offers 1.d4 players the closest thing to open-game clarity in the closed openings.

Why it matters

The dynamic counterpart to the QGD: instead of a fortress, Black chooses piece activity and a clean structure at the cost of the center. The eternal lesson: a "won" pawn returned at the right moment is a tempo invested, not material lost.

Notable games

• Euwe–Alekhine, WCh 1937 (QGA battles)
• Kasparov's QGA in the 1980s