Chris Ward: Unusual Queen’s Gambit Declined

Chris Ward covers three offbeat but important defences to this ancient opening. The Chigorin Defence (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6) creates dynamic imbalance in the position. The Albin Counter Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5) is a tricky tactical line which can be deadly against an unprepared White player. The final variation (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Bf5) is an interesting way to try to solve immediately the problem of how to develop the queen’s bishop in the Queens Gambit Declined.

” Readers should enjoy Ward’s entertaining style throughout, whilst he does also show that these three offbeat defences are not as bad as many believe them to be; a fact which is supported by the surprisingly large number of grandmasters employing them as surprise openings as Black. All in all this is a useful and thorough survey of three easy to play lines which remain popular at club level and above.” Richard Palliser