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Thread: Wiki re: Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD)

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    Default Wiki re: Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD)

    Here's the wiki re: the QGD complex:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Gambit_Declined

    The wiki mentions many of the variations of the QGD that Black or White can choose from. Some of the names chosen may be controversial, e.g. some authors refer to the QGD Orthodox as the position that arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7, and furthermore some authors refer to the position after 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 as the Classical variation of the Orthodox, which is my own preference, if only for the sake of clarity.

    While the wiki mentions that there are any number of move orders for the QGD to arise from, it doesn't much touch on any of the pros and cons, say even after 1.d4 is played first. Whether to play 1...d5 or 1...Nf6 ? (1...e6 also is possible, for French Defence players). It's a mystery lost to the past for me if 1...d5 was much preferred until at least the mid-20th century - perhaps due to classical style still being largely dominant even by then; in the early days Black players may also have wished to keep open options such as 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 or even 3...b6 to think about at the board, but by now these two moves are shunted aside normally by serious players.

    In modern times there are several clear pros and cons whether to choose 1...d5 or 1...Nf6 that I can give (there may be more). Firstly, if 1.d4 d5 2,c4 e6 3.Nc3 then 3...Be7 avoids the Exchange variation lines where White plays Bg5 (I can mention here, too, that 3.cxd5 exd5 is a premature attempt to get it, if White hopes for a theoretical edge, as Black can quickly play ...c6 [to allow ...Qb6 in reply to Qb3] and then aim to play ...Bf5 before White can develop both his bishops outside of pawn chains [Black can play ...g6 if White tries Qc2]). However, White can still bug Black a little by playing Bf4, with or without trading on d5 first, so it's not all a bed of roses for Black. If instead Black tries 3...Nf6 then besides 4.cxd5 or 4.Bg5 White could play 4.Nf3, hoping for 4...Be7 5.Bf4, though Black might cross him up by playing 4...Bb4, for example, if he is not happy to face 5.Bf4 that day (if ever). Secondly, if White hoped to play a Trompovsky (1...Nf6 2.Bg5) then 1...d5 2.Bg5 is thought to be a less potent version of that (furthermore, 1.d4 e6 avoids that too, if Black wishes). Thirdly, if White wishes to play a London System (involves an early Bf4 without c2-c4) then after 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 e6 Black can play a system with ...Bd6, and he would still have the option of playing ...Ne7 instead of ...Nf6 if he found that attractive.

    Well, what about playing 1...Nf6 ? The main advantage is that after 2.c4 e6 if White normally plays 3.Nf3 or 3.g3 then the QGD Exchange Variation with Bg5 is avoided, if Black plays 3...d5 after either of those moves, so Black can exploit White's repertoire this way if he knows what it is in advance. Even if White is happy to play 3.Nc3, expecting a Nimzo-Indian maybe (usual for White at most levels other than elite, perhaps, it seems to me) Black can still play 3...d5. White may then become aware, or will someday, that inviting a Queen's Indian or a Catalan will be a problem if he ever switched to 3.Nf3 or 3.g3, since he loses the chance for a Bg5 QGD Exchange variation if that was to be in his repertoire, and it can be a big shock considering that sort of thing when sitting at the board, at least for a young player (1.d4 players can be faced with some other transpositional quandaries like this too, but that can wait for another day). In any event, I should repeat that in the position that arises after e.g. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3, Black has the option of avoiding the system after ...Be7 plus Bf4 by White, say by playing 4...Bb4. Also, if White deviates at move 2 then Black doesn't necessarily have to play a system with an early ...d5 after all.

    [edit: below is a link to a thread on the Catalan.]

    https://www.chesscanada.info/forum/s...atalan-Opening
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 10-18-2021 at 09:05 PM.
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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