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
