Now White is far ahead in the development and in addition he has an open file for his Queen's Rook in which the black Pawn is bound to be lost in the long run. Moreover, Black has no compensation for White's strong Pawn-center.
For this reason the Queen's Gambit is hardly ever accepted and the following defense played instead:
(1) P-d4 P-d5 (2) Kt-f3 Kt-f6 (3) P-c4 P-e6 (4) Kt-c3
Black has now the choice between either advancing his c-Pawn right away or first developing the pieces of his Queen's wing. In the latter case he cannot place the Queen's Knight on c6 as this would block the way of the c-Pawn. He must develop him to d7. This appears to be a bad move as it blocks the way of the Queen's Bishop, but this Bishop will have to be developed in a different diagonal anyway as the Pawn e6 cannot advance opening the diagonal c8-h3.
I. (4) … Ktb8-d7 (5) B-g5
The fact that White can develop his Queen's Bishop without difficulty while Black cannot do so has made the Queen's Gambit one of the most popular openings.
(5) … B-e7 (6) P-e3 o-o (7) B-d3 P-b6 (8) o-o B-b7 (9) Pxd5 Pxd5 (10) R-c1
White is two moves ahead in the development, as Black has still
to move his c-Pawn before he can get his Queen's Rook into play.
In the meantime White can mobilize his King's Rook with Q-e2 and
Rf1-d1, with a view to opening the Queen's file by Pd4xc5.
II. (4) … P-c5
If White now Plays P-e3, holding his Pawn-center, a symmetrical development follows on both sides. If, however, White takes his opportunity to develop the Queen's Bishop, a game of entirely different character ensues. The following variations show typical examples of the way these two variations are liable to develop: