In his game against Kovalev, Magnus was able to prove it very convincingly.

Now White will try to prove that it weakens the black king. The critical position arises after 6.c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.e3 0-0 9.a3 Nc6 10.Qc2Īlmost by force, we arrive at our main line but with the inclusion of the move. This idea has been tried by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen. In the future, White will try to prove that. The basic position is being reached after 5.h6 6.Bf4

Although the move 5.Bg5 is not a topic of the current database, Eljanov examines an attempt to enter the systems with Bf4 after provoking. In this chapter, the author deals with some sidelines that White can opt for. The systems based on Bg5 (on move 4 or 5), as well as 4.e3, 5.cxd5, 5.Qc2 and 5.g3 will be dealt with in Part 2 of Eljanov's Queen's Gambit Declined series. The starting position of the current database arises after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 At some point, this move was a bit in the shadow of the solid 6.Nbd7 but recently it began to gain popularity again thanks to top GMs Nakamura, Caruana and Anand first of all. In this database, I decided to analyse Queen's Gambit Declined from Black's point of view and chose the most straightforward way to challenge the main move 5.Bf4 (after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4) with 6.c5!?. Nevertheless, I suppose that it perfectly suits my style and chess philosophy. Strangely enough, yours truly almost never played Queen's Gambit Declined with Black.

If in the old days it was considered safe to allow the Carlsbad Variation after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5, nowadays most modern maestros tend to avoid typical Carlsbad pawn chains with Black and opt for 3.d5 only in response to 3.Nf3. Like no other it passed the test of centuries of chess practice. This opening was employed by almost all old maestros including Morphy, Chigorin and Steinitz as well as by modern super grandmasters like Carlsen, Ananda, Caruana and many others.ĭifferent move orders were popular at different times. The Queen's Gambit Declined is truly a lifetime opening. In the introduction to the current database, GM Eljanov writes: Play Queen's Gambit Declined against 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 - Part 1

How to play the queen's gambit