Chess lessons › Chess openings
The Queen’s Gambit Declined
Hold d5 with ...e6, meet the bishop on g5, and learn the old trap that punishes a greedy Nxd5.
The idea
Black holds d5 with ...e6 and meets the bishop on g5.
- The knight on d7 blocks the queen, so only the knight on f6 guards d5.
- Nxd5 looks like a free pawn, but Black answers ...Nxd5.
- If Bxd8, the bishop on f8 checks from b4 and Black wins a knight for a pawn.
In a game: When a knight on d7 blocks the black queen, look at ...Bb4+ before you take on d5.
How the lesson begins
After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Black keeps the pawn on d5 and protects it with the pawn on e6. Among players rated 2000 and above on Lichess, White scores 54% from here.
A classical way on is 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. Lichess calls this the Modern Variation. The bishop on g5 attacks the knight on f6, and that knight is one of the pieces that guards d5. Behind the knight stands the black queen on d8.
- 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
Black can answer 4...Be7, which breaks the line from g5 to d8, or 4...Nbd7, which Lichess calls the Knight Defence.
4...Nbd7 looks careless. The knight on d7 stands between the queen and d5, so the queen no longer guards that square. It is a trap.
- 4... Nbd7
A question
After 5.cxd5 exd5, the pawn on d5 is attacked by your knight on c3 and protected only by the knight on f6. Your bishop on g5 attacks that knight. Does 6.Nxd5 win a pawn?
Show the answer
No. Black takes back with the knight and gives up the queen for a moment, then wins more back.
Right. After 6.Nxd5 Nxd5 the bishop can take the queen on d8, but Black has a check to come. The next step shows it.
In numbers
How often it is played
| Rating | Value |
|---|---|
| Under 800 | Too few games |
| 800 to 1199 | 12 |
| 1200 to 1599 | 20 |
| 1600 to 1999 | 27 |
| 2000 and up | 30 |
How the games ended
White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%, over 41,658 games that start this way, in a sample of rated Lichess games from 2026.