The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense reaches a named position after 5 moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5
In practical games, this line matters because the early pawn and piece choices decide which middlegame plans are natural. Use the board above to learn the move order, then complete Practice without hints before adding the opening to your regular queue.
If this exact branch does not appear in your games, study the related lines below. Openings often transpose, and recognizing the family pattern is more useful than memorizing one narrow sequence.
The idea behind this line
Black releases the center by taking c4, then develops quickly and returns the pawn when needed.
What to look for
- Recover c4 without losing time.
- Build e4 when Black cannot challenge it.
- Use a4 to stop a queenside pawn chain when needed.
Position details
This line branches from Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation, Traditional System with Bxc4.
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/8/2BP4/4PN2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5