Queen's Gambit Accepted - 3...b5 Lines
Black grabs your gambit pawn and meets 3.e3 with 3...b5, then often slips with 5...cxb5. Meet it with 4.a4, 5.axb5, and 6.Qf3 hitting the rook on a8, following up with Qxc6+, Qa6, Nf3, and Bd2. Watch for 10...Ne4, punished by Ba5 and a later Nbd2 trade. You end up a piece for a pawn, clearly winning despite an isolated b2 pawn.
Let's learn the 3...b5 Lines! Black grabs queenside space to defend the pawn on c4. This weakens the a-file, letting us hunt down a free rook. Let's begin with 1.d4.
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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 8... e6 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. Bd2 Ne4 11. Ba5
- 4...Bd7
… 4. a4 Bd7 5. axb5 Bxb5 6. Nc3 c6 7. b3 cxb3 8. Nxb5 cxb5 9. Bxb5+ Nd7 10. Nf3 e6 11. O-O
- 4...bxa4
… 4. a4 bxa4 5. Qxa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 e6 7. Be2
- Trap: 5...cxb5, you win a piece
… 6. Qf3 Bb7 7. Qxb7 Nd7 8. Qxb5 Nf6 9. Nc3
- 6...Bb7
… 6. Qf3 Bb7 7. Qxb7 Nd7 8. Qxb5 e6 9. Bxc4 Nf6 10. Nf3
Other chapters
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. b3 b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. Bb2 Nbd7 10. Nbd2
Main Line (6...a6)
Answer with 7.b3, 8.Be2, 9.Bb2, and meet ...Nbd7 with 10.Nbd2, planning a4, a trade on c5, and a rook to c1, or Nd4 with the bishop rerouted to f3. Aim for a position where Black's queenside pawn majority is outweighed by your active pieces.
12 lines1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 Nf6 6. Qb3 Qe7+ 7. Ne2 Nc6 8. O-O Na5 9. Qb5+ Nc6 10. Bg5 a6 11. Qb3
5...Nf6 Lines (after 3...e5 4.Bxc4 4...exd4 5.exd4)
After 5.exd4, Black plays ...Nf6, developing and eyeing e4. Meet ...Qe7+ with Ne2, then castle, meet ...Na5 with Qb5+, and pin the knight with Bg5. Watch for 8...Be6, which lets Qxb7 win a rook and a pawn for a knight. Aim for an isolated queen's pawn on d4, while Black holds a queenside majority.
6 lines1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. O-O Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qf6 9. Re1+ Be7 10. Qh3
5...Nc6 Lines (after 3...e5 4.Bxc4 4...exd4 5.exd4)
After 3...e5 and 4...exd4 5.exd4, Black develops with 5...Nc6 and often 6...Bg4. Castle with 7.O-O, meet 7...Bxf3 with 8.Qxf3 threatening Qxf7#, then plan Nc3 and Re4 on the open e-file, backed by Bf4, Be3, and Qh5. Watch for 8...Qxd4? 9.Qxf7+ winning material.
4 lines1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 Bd6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Qe2+ Qe7 8. Qxe7+ Bxe7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O c6 11. Bg5
Other 5th moves after 3...e5 4.Bxc4 4...exd4 5.exd4 (5...Bd6)
Black meets 5.exd4 with 5...Bd6, usually following up with 6...Nf6. Check with 7.Qe2+, trade queens after 8.Qxe7+ Bxe7, castle, then play 11.Bg5, planning a rook move to the e-file and a bishop retreat to expose Black's e7 bishop. Watch for 6...Ne7, where 7.Ng5 and 8.Qh5 let you win material. You get an isolated d4 pawn against Black's queenside majority.
2 lines1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e6 4. Bxc4 Nf6
Other 3rd moves (3...e6)
Opponent grabs the gambit pawn with ...dxc4 then plays ...e6 and ...Nf6. You play 3.e3 to reopen your bishop's diagonal, then recapture with 4.Bxc4 and aim to castle soon. Watch for Black's queenside majority later, but enjoy smooth development now.
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