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Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...dxc4/3. Nc3

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Queen's Gambit Accepted
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black kinge7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black pawnd4 white pawne4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 white knightd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 black kingd2 black kinge2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 black kingc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)
Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3

3. Nc3

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Two players have labeled this move misguided, as the knight is vulnerable here to a b7-b5-b4 advance. It also doesn't control d4 or e5, two important squares in Queen's Gambit Accepted positions. The most common and highest-scoring response for Black is to follow up with 3...a6, preparing a future ...b5 thrust which will introduce the idea of attacking the knight with ...b4, whilst also claiming that Black can keep ahold of the pawn with suitable defence. This usually leads to a firefight on the queenside, with a4 usually being played sooner rather than later by White in order to disrupt Black's defence of the c-pawn. The less common 3...c6 transposes to a position in the Slav defence, with a similar idea in mind.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3

3 4 56
Queen's Gambit AcceptedNc3
c6
e3
b5
a4
b4
Ne4
Qd5
=
...
...
e4
b5
a4
b4
Nb1
Ba6
=
...
a6
a4
Nc6
Nf3
Nf6
e4
Bg4
=/+
...
...
...
...
...
Bg4
e3
Na5
=/+
...
...
...
...
...
e5
Nxe5
Nxe5
=/+
...
...
e3
b5
a4
b4
Bxc4
e6
=

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