It poses the purest test of Queen's Gambit theory—whether Black can equalize by simply copying White's moves.

Most opening theoreticians believe that White should gain the advantage and at best Black is playing for a draw.

[3][4] He employed a similar opening in the Candidates Tournament 2024, beating R Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces in a game beginning with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c5.

[5] Nakamura defeated Luca Moroni and drew against Bogdan-Daniel Deac with the opening in the 2024 World Rapid Chess Championship.

[6] White often replies 3.cxd5, but other moves are playable and may lead to transpositions into more well-known variations such as the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Tarrasch Defense.