The Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA) is Black's most straightforward way of meeting one of the most popular openings in chess history. Black grabs the gambit pawn and thus refuses to succumb to the passive positions so typical of the Queen's Gambit Declined. This direct and uncompromising approach gives rise to dynamic positions where both sides have excellent chances to play for the win. It's no surprise that the QGA has attracted many high-class advocates, including Garry Kasparov and Vishy Anand.

This book is a further addition to Everyman's best-selling Starting Out series, which has been acclaimed for its original approach to tackling chess openings. Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik revisit the fundamentals of QGA, elaborating on the crucial early moves and ideas for both sides in a way that is often neglected in other texts. The reader is helped throughout with a plethora of notes, tips and warnings highlighting the vital characteristics of the QGA and of opening play in general. Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Accepted is a perfect guide for improving players and those new to this opening.

• A back-to-basics look at an important opening
• Written in an easy-to-learn format
• All the main lines are covered

Introduction

The Queen's Gambit Accepted (QGA) arises after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 and is one of the oldest chess openings, having been first mentioned in the 15th Century. Initially Black played to hang on to his extra pawn, and it was not until the Steinitz-Zukertort match of 1886 that the modern treatment of the QGA began. By then it had become clear that it was too risky for Black to attempt to remain a pawn up; Steinitz instead inflicted an isolated queen's pawn (IQP) on White and then set about aiming to exploit his positional advantage.

At the beginning of the 20th Century the QGA still suffered from a dubious reputation, gaining little attention in Bilguer's classic Handbuch. New ideas in the opening did, however, begin to appear with Alekhine introducing the development of Black's queen's bishop to g4 (3 Nf3 a6 4 e3 Bg4). The QGA served both Smyslov and Petrosian well after the war, but despite this great heritage it was not until the end of the 20th century that the opening became very popular. Suddenly its leading practitioners, Sadler and Seirawan, were joined by the likes of Anand, Ivanchuk, Kasparov, Shirov and Topalov as the QGA finally threw off any suggestion that it was a slightly incorrect opening.

The popularity of the QGA can be partly explained by the fact that it often gives rise to complex IQP positions in which Black has good counterchances. He must, though, be careful not to allow White a strong initiative in the middlegame, while relying on his positional trumps to come to the fore the longer the game progresses. A completely different sort of position arises after the sharp 3 e4 in which the fight often revolves around Black's counterplay against the white pawn centre. Currently both 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Bxc4 c5 6 0-0 and 3 e4 are very popular, but the reader should not neglect White's other approaches, such as the genuine gambit 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6 5 e4.

Finally, we must thank our families for their support, and give special thanks to Jacob Aagaard for his invaluable help with many different aspects of this book.

Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik,

Voronezh, June 2006