[3] Of the 34 games played in the 1927 World Championship between Alexander Alekhine and José Raúl Capablanca, all except the first and third began with the Queen's Gambit Declined.

White has several ways of dealing with Black's setup: The Cambridge Springs Defense was introduced more than a century ago, and is still played.

(1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6) 4.Bg5 Nbd7 (setting up the Elephant Trap) 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5, now Black intends ...Bb4 and possibly ...Ne4, with pressure along the a5–e1 diagonal.

While Black can play ...cxb5, or recapture on c6 with a piece, each of these possibilities is even less desirable than the backward pawn in the open file.

For Black, exchanging at d5 has released his light-squared bishop and opened the e-file, giving him the use of e4 as a springboard for central and kingside play.

The following games are model games for White: The Three Knights Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined is usually reached from the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3, played to avoid the Nimzo-Indian Defense (from the white point of view) and the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (from the black point of view).

[17] This line has been played by top grandmasters such as Wesley So, Anish Giri, and Magnus Carlsen aiming for a draw.

There is also the Exchange Variation where the game continues 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4, which has been used by played by the likes of Ding Liren, Anish Giri, Vladimir Kramnik, and Magnus Carlsen.

Placing the bishop on Bg5 allows Black to exchange more freely with moves like Nf6-e4, as seen in the Lasker Defence.

[19] Peter Leko, usually an e4 player, used this variation as White to beat Vladimir Kramnik in their 2004 World Championship Match.