The Queens Gambit Declined
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HAIMBUTI CHESS EXPLAINED THE QUEEN S GAMBIT DECLINED James Rizzitano A new approach to understanding the chess openings Chess Explained: The Queen’s Gambit Declined James Rizzitano First published in the UK by Gambit Publications Ltd 2007 Copyright © James Rizzitano 2007 The right of James Rizzitano to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accor¬ dance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ISBN-13: 978-1-904600-80-0 ISBN-10: 1-904600-80-8 Distribution: Worldwide (except USA): Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Rd, London E9 5LN, England. Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 Fax +44 (0)20 8533 5821. E-mail: [email protected] Gambit Publications Ltd, 99 Wallis Rd, London E9 5LN, England. E-mail: [email protected] Website (regularly updated): www.gambitbooks.com Edited by Graham Burgess Typeset by Petra Nunn Cover image by Wolff Morrow Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wilts. 10 987654321 Gambit Publications Ltd Managing Director: Murray Chandler GM Chess Director: Dr John Nunn GM Editorial Director: Graham Burgess FM German Editor: Petra Nunn WFM Webmaster: Dr Helen Milligan WFM Contents Symbols Dedication Acknowledgements Bibliography Introduction 1 Alatortsev Variation 2 Tarrasch Defence 3 Exchange and Blackburne Variations 4 Ragozin Defence and Vienna Variation 5 Semi-Tarrasch Defence 6 Cambridge Springs and Lasker Defences 7 Tartakower Defence 8 Classical Defence List of Games Index of Variations Symbols + check ++ double check # checkmate !! brilliant move ! good move !? interesting move ?! dubious move ? bad move ?? blunder Ch championship corr. correspondence game 1-0 the game ends in a win for White V2-V2 the game ends in a draw 0-1 the game ends in a win for Black (D) see next diagram Dedication To Jillian and Jay. Acknowledgements Thanks to David Vigorito for his strong opinions. Special thanks to my wife Kim and to our chil¬ dren Jillian and Jay for their enthusiasm and support. Bibliography Books Aagaard, J. & Lund, E.: Meeting 1 d4, Everyman 2002 Burgess, G. & Pedersen, S.: The Queen's Gambit for the Attacking Player; Batsford 1994 Cox, J.: Starting Out: 1 d4!, Everyman 2006 Crouch, C.: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Mf4/, Cadogan 1998 Janjgava, L.: The Queen's Gambit & Catalan for Black, Gambit 2000 Khalifman, A.: Opening for White According to Kramnik 1 %hf3, Volume 4, Chess Stars 2002 Khalifman, A.: Opening for White According to Kramnik 1 ^hf3, Volume 5, Chess Stars 2002 Kramnik, V. & Damsky, I.: Kramnik: My Life and Games, Everyman 2000 Lalic, B.: Queen's Gambit Declined: Jkg5 Systems, Everyman/Gambit 2000 McDonald, Neil, Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined, Everyman 2006 Matanovic, A. (ed.): Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings D (‘ECO’), 4th ed., Sahovski Informator 2004 Nunn, J., Burgess, G., Emms, J. & Gallagher, J.: Nunn's Chess Openings (WCO’), Gambit/Everyman 1999 Palliser, R.: Play 1 d4!, Batsford 2003 Panczyk, K. & Ilczuk, J.: The Cambridge Springs, Gambit 2002 Polugaevsky, L.: Grandmaster Preparation, Pergamon 1981 Rizzitano, J.: How to Beat 1 d4. Gambit 2005 Sadler, M.: Queen's Gambit Declined, Everyman 2000 Samarian, S.: Queen's Gambit Declined, Batsford 1974 Stohl, I.: Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games, Volume 1, Gambit 2005 Stohl, I.: Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games, Volume 2, Gambit 2006 Ward, C.: Play the Queen's Gambit, Everyman 2006 Watson, J.: Chess Strategy in Action, Gambit 2003 Electronic/Periodicals ChessBase Mega Database 2007 Chess Mail UltraCorr 2006 New In Chess Magazine New In Chess Yearbook (up to No. 83) Sahovski Informator (‘Chess Informant’) (up to No. 98) The Week In Chess (up to No. 664, dated 30 July 2007) Introduction I welcome the opportunity to write another book for Gambit’s Chess Explained series. The goal of this book is to examine the Queen’s Gambit Declined (QGD) and to explain the typical plans and strategies for each side within the context of 25 high-level annotated games. Most of the World Champions have played both sides of the QGD; the 10th World Champion Boris Spassky and the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov have been especially notable defenders of Black’s cause. The QGD has played a prominent role in world championship matches and high-level tournaments for more than a century. Black’s strategy in the QGD is to occupy the centre with pawns and fight for his share of the board in accordance with classical development principles. During the early part of the 20th cen¬ tury, the Hypermodems led by Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Reti showed that Black could also contest the centre not through direct occupation, but with pieces controlling the centre from the wings. This has relevance for the contemporary club and tournament player because one of the most important factors to consider when selecting an opening is to assess your comfort level re¬ garding the three chess elements of time, material and space. Your personal preferences and ten¬ dencies should help determine your choice of opening. Let’s consider the element of space in the context of choosing a black defence to 1 d4. If you are uncomfortable conceding a space advantage to your opponent in the opening, consider classical openings including the Queen’s Gambit De¬ clined, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Slav or Semi-Slav. If you prefer to play solid chess and stand your ground in the centre, the QGD is one of the open¬ ings you should consider adding to your repertoire. A general understanding of characteristic QGD positions and motifs is beneficial for practitioners of many double queen’s pawn openings includ¬ ing the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, the Slav and the Semi-Slav complex. QGD themes also occur in other light-square openings including certain variations of the Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian and Queen’s Indian. Let’s examine Black’s strategy and explore the lines we shall be covering: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 White’s 2nd move alternatives and a repertoire for Black are covered in my book How to Beat 1 d4. 2...e6 (D) Introduction 7 Black supports his d5-pawn and opens the f8-a3 diagonal for his dark-squared bishop. The po¬ tential downside of this move is that the c8-h3 diagonal is blocked for his light-squared bishop. The different variations of the QGD all have their own strategy for assuring the satisfactory de¬ velopment of Black’s light-squared bishop, either by carefully preparing a central ...e5 pawn- break, or by developing the bishop along the a8-hl diagonal. The liberation of Black’s light- squared bishop is a recurring theme in most QGD variations, and a glance at the scope and effec¬ tiveness of this piece is often a helpful indicator for measuring the overall success of Black’s opening strategy. 3£>c3 White can also play 3 (3...c5 leads to lines of the Tarrasch - see Chapter 2) and now: a) 4 g3 leads to the Catalan Opening and is beyond the scope of this book. b) 4 £hc3-3 £hc3lhf6 4 £hf3. 3...£>f6 (D) Black has a few important alternatives here: a) 3...c6 is known as the Triangle or Wedge Variation and is not covered in this book. It often leads into the Semi-Slav. b) 3...ike7 is the Alatortsev Variation (Chapter 1). One of the ideas behind the bishop develop¬ ment is to avoid the pin on the black knight that occurs after 3...4^f6 4 itg5. c) 3...c5 is the Tarrasch Defence (Chapter 2), by which Black immediately frees his game at the cost of incurring an isolated pawn in many lines. The dangerous von Hennig-Schara Gambit is also covered here. 4±g 5 Alternatives: a) 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Ag5 is the Exchange Variation (Chapter 3). The paradox of this line is that White voluntarily opens a diagonal for Black’s light-squared bishop, yet this piece often has diffi¬ culty finding a useful role during the early stages of the game. This is not due to the structure, so much as the fact that White can play in such a way as to make it hard for this bishop to find a good post. b) 4 and now: bl) 4...dxc4 and then: bl 1) 5 e3 c5 6 Jtxc4 a6 transposes into the Classical Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. For coverage, see my book How to Beat 1 d4. bl2) 5 e4 jkb4 6 itg5 is the Vienna Variation (Chapter 4). b2) 4...c6 is the main-line position of the Semi-Slav, which is not considered in this book. 8 Chess Explained: The Queen's Gambit Declined However, there is at least one significant transposition back to QGD territory: after 5 Jtg5 (5 e3 usually leads to the Meran), 5...4)bd7 6 e3 Wa5 is the Cambridge Springs (Chapter 6), but note that Black more often plays 5...dxc4 (Botvinnik System) or 5...h6 (Moscow Variation). b3) 4...jtb4 and here: b31) 5 cxd5 exd5 6 Jtg5 is the Ragozin Defence (Chapter 4). b32) 5 Jtg5 dxc4 is the Vienna Variation (Chapter 4). b4) 4...c5 is the Semi-Tarrasch Defence (Chapter 5). Two of the standard continuations are 5 e3 4}c6, typically leading to positions with an isolated queen’s pawn (IQP), and 5 cxd5 4^xd5, when White has the possibility of constructing a large mobile pawn-centre.