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How to Beat 1.d4
Reviewed by S. Evan Kreider, May 2006

In my experience, most club players prefer king’s pawn openings to anything else.  I don’t have any hard statistics to back this up, but anecdotally speaking I’d say the majority of us play 1.e4 as White, and as Black we spend most of our time on our favorite defense to 1.e4, whether it be the French, the Sicilian, or whatever.  Other openings, we’d probably rather avoid.  Of course, we can avoid them as White, but as Black, we’re often faced with the problem of responding to non 1.e4 openings.  This book is designed to solve most of that problem, showing Black how to answer most anything that begins 1.d4, from the Queen’s Gambit to many of White’s secondary 1.d4 systems.

The bulk of the book is devoted to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, as the first half of the table of contents shows: 

Part 1: Queen’s Gambit Accepted [1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4]

1. White’s Third Move Alternatives [3.Nc3; 3.e3; etc.]
2. Central Variation [3.e4]
3. Mannheim Variation [3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+]
4. Two Knights Variation [3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3]
5. Furman Variation [3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.Qe2]
6. Classical Variation [3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6]: White’s Seventh Move Alternatives [7.Nbd2; 7.Nc3; 7.a3; 7.b3; 7.e4; 7.Bd3; 7.dxc5]
7. Classical Variation: 7.a4
8. Classical Variation: 7.Bb3
9. Classical Variation: 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bd3
10. Classical Variation: 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.a4
11. Classical Variation: 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.Rd1

Why the Queen’s Gambit Accepted?  In the author’s words:

The QGA is a suitable opening for all players, not just World Champions and world class grandmasters – one of the advantages for the club and tournament competitor is that the characteristic positions can be understood by players of widely varying ability.  Black’s opening strategy conforms to classical development principles because he fights for his share of the centre and he can usually develop his pieces quickly and safeguard his king.   Black usually does not have to worry about being overrun by a central pawn steamroller, he does not have to struggle with a bad bishop, and he does not have to embark on any complicated knight tours to complete his development.

I agree with the author that the QGA is a good choice of openings.  It’s thoroughly sound, accessible enough for the novice but sophisticated enough for the master, a nice combination of sound and active, and playable according to good classical principles.  As a result, the QGA is the kind of opening someone could take up as a novice and be satisfied with for the rest of their chess career.

The rest of the book is devoted to most of White’s deviations from the Queen’s Gambit after 1.d4 d5.  Referring back to the table of contents:

Part 2: Queen’s Pawn Games (White plays without c4)

12. Hodgson Attack: 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5
13. Veresov Opening: 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5
14. London System: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4
15. King’s Fianchetto: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3
16. Torre Attack: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5
17. Colle System: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3
18. Stonewall Attack: 1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3
19. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2.e4

I say “most” because there are a couple of not-too-uncommon systems the author doesn’t cover: the Hebden Torre (1.d4 2.Nf3 3.c3 4.Bg5) and queen-side castling treatments of the Trompowsky (sometimes called “The Curry”).  Other than those two relatively minor omissions, the author has covered anything of theoretical importance.  Anything else, Black can probably fake.

The book also provides a great deal of explanation of moves, rather than just following lines with evaluation symbols.  This will make the book useful for players rated as low as class B or so (and anyone below that shouldn’t be studying openings much at all anyway!).  At the same time, there is tons of theory here for those players who can use it, making it useful for the master level crowd as well.  The book is filled with thorough analysis, much of original, and all of it personally checked by the author – impressive, given how often chess book authors simply quote the analysis of others.  One other thing I like about it is that the author gives Black some choice of lines, usually between a more solid approach and a more active approach.  This guarantees the usefulness of the book to a wide audience, and also gives Black some alternatives should any particular line not be to Black’s liking.

If you’re looking for a good repertoire book to help you face 1.d4, I can’t think of a better one – highly recommended.
 

Index of Reviews
 

Copyright 2006 S. Evan Kreider.  Used with permission.

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