Chess Opening Theory/1. d4
| Queen's Pawn Opening | |
|---|---|
|
a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h | |
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) | |
| Moves: 1. d4 | |
| ECO code: A40-A99, D00-D99 and E00-E99 | |
| Parent: Starting position | |
1. d4 · Queen's Pawn Opening
edit1. d4, known as the Queen's Pawn Opening, is a popular initial move in chess, ranking second only to 1. e4 in terms of games played. It is a cunning move by White to control the center of the board and prevent Black from easily playing ...e5. Additionally, it discourages Black from developing their b8 knight to c6, where it could be vulnerable to White's pawn advance to d5. The development of the c1-bishop is not a priority for White at this stage. Instead, 1. d4 is aimed at slowing down Black's development rather than accelerating White's.
At this point, Black must decide how to face White's aggression. Traditionally, the two most popular replies are 1...d5 and 1...Nf6 as most other moves tend to allow White a broad center with 2. e4. Allowing a broad center was frowned upon in classical times but is more of a matter of preference today. Another reason 1...d5 and 1...Nf6 are the main replies is that many of the alternatives transpose into main lines anyway. One notable exception is the Dutch Defense (1...f5), whose character prevents 2. e4 whilst remaining unique. 1...d5 directly challenges White's plan to establish a broad center with a 2. e4 follow-up. If 1...d5, White can instead play 2. c4, the Queen's Gambit, hoping to divert Black's pawn from its job of attacking e4. The Queen's Gambit is the champagne and caviar of White openings and is a huge reason for the popularity of 1. d4. 1...Nf6 prevents an immediate 2. e4 while maintaining flexibility to play a number of Indian systems or move back into a system typical of 1...d5.
To play 1. d4 correctly, the White player should learn the basic Queen's Gambit positions, the King's Indian, Queen's Indian, Nimzo-Indian positions, and even some of the Benoni positions. This may seem intimidating to the beginner, but fortunately it is not as difficult as it may sound at first.
Furthermore, there are several practical advantages to becoming familiar with playing 1. d4 as White:
- 1. d4 openings tend to be more forgiving than 1. e4 openings so far as traps are concerned. Pieces should be mobilized quickly, but it is less common for a natural-looking move to lead to a sudden demise, in contrast to several 1. e4 traps such as the Philidor Defense, Hanham Variation.
- While there are many transpositions between the different 1. d4 openings, this is true because the underlying strategic goals are very similar. The Queen's Indian has much in common with some of the main variations of the Queen's Gambit Declined — much more so than the typical Caro-Kann has with the French Defense or Ruy Lopez in the 1. e4 world.
- Today, at master level, the 1. d4 openings are more frequently encountered than 1. e4 openings, though the reverse is true of amateur level. 1. c4 and 1. Nf3 frequently end up transposing to a 1. d4 opening.
- In world championships, 1. d4 openings are encountered 5 times as much as 1. e4 openings are.
Statistics
edit- Approximate chances*
- White win 38%, Draw 33%, Black win 29%.
- Estimated next move popularity
- Nf6 52%, d5 28%, e6 6%, g6 3%, d6 3%, f5 3%, c5 2%. Other moves 1% or less.
*May vary according to rating, higher rating groups tend toward draws at higher rates than others
| move | average | 365Chess.com (big) | Chess Tempo (all) | chessgames.com | Lichess (masters) | Lichess (database) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ...Nf6 | 52.0% | 56.2 | 57.3 | 60.5 | 60.6 | 25.3 |
| ...d5 | 28.4 | 27.8 | 27.3 | 26.2 | 25.3 | 35.5 |
| ...e6 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 9.8 |
| ...g6 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 5.3 |
| ...d6 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 4.0 |
| ...f5 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.0 |
| ...c5 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 5.9 |
| ...c6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 4.1 |
| ...e5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.6 |
| ...b6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| ...Nc6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| ...b5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| everything else | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
Theory table
edit- 1. d4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Evaluation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimzo-Indian Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 e6 |
Nc3 Bb4 |
e3 O-O |
Bd3 d5 |
Nf3 c5 |
= | |
| Queen's Indian Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 e6 |
Nf3 b6 |
a3 Bb7 |
Nc3 d5 |
cxd5 Nxd5 |
+/= | |
| Bogo-Indian Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 e6 |
Nf3 Bb4+ |
Bd2 Qe7 |
g3 Nc6 |
Nc3 Bxc3 |
+/= | |
| King's Indian Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 g6 |
Nc3 Bg7 |
e4 d6 |
Nf3 O-O |
Be2 e5 |
= | |
| Grünfeld Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 g6 |
Nc3 d5 |
cxd5 Nxd5 |
e4 Nxc3 |
bxc3 Bg7 |
= | |
| Benoni Defence | ... Nf6 |
c4 c5 |
d5 e6 |
Nc3 exd5 |
cxd5 d6 |
e4 g6 |
+/= | |
| Budapest Gambit | ... Nf6 |
c4 e5 |
dxe5 Ng4 |
Bf4 Nc6 |
Nf3 Bb4+ |
Nbd2 Qe7 |
+/= | |
| Closed Game | ... d5 |
c4 e6 |
Nc3 Nf6 |
Bg5 Be7 |
e3 O-O |
Nf3 Nbd7 |
= | |
| Slav Defence | ... d5 |
c4 c6 |
Nf3 Nf6 |
Nc3 dxc4 |
a4 Bf5 |
e3 e6 |
= | |
| 2. Bf4 - London System | ... d5 |
Bf4 | = | |||||
| Queen's Pawn/Semi-Slav | ... e6 |
c4 d5 |
Nc3 Nf6 |
Nf3 c6 |
e3 Nbd7 |
Bd3 dxc4 |
= | |
| Queen's Pawn: Modern | ... g6 |
c4 Bg7 |
Nc3 d6 |
Nf3 Nd7 |
g3 e5 |
Bg2 Ne7 |
= | |
| Neo-Old Indian | ... d6 |
c4 e5 |
Nf3 e4 |
Ng5 f5 |
Nc3 c6 |
Nh3 Nf6 |
= | |
| Dutch Defence | ... f5 |
c4 Nf6 |
g3 g6 |
Bg2 Bg7 |
Nf3 O-O |
O-O d6 |
= | |
| Old Benoni | ... c5 |
d5 e5 |
e4 d6 |
Nc3 Be7 |
Nf3 Bg4 |
h3 Bxf3 |
+/= | |
| 2. Bf4 - London System | ... Nf6 |
Bf4 | = | |||||
| Queen's Pawn:
Slav Invitation |
... c6 |
c4 d5 |
Less common, usually transposes to Caro-Kann (after 2. e4 d5) or Slav (after 2. c4 d5) | |||||
| Englund Gambit | ... e5 |
dxe5 |
Less common | |||||
| English Defence | ... b6 |
c4 |
Less common, could also transpose to Owen Defence (after 2. e4) | |||||
| Polish Defence | ... b5 |
e4 |
Less common | |||||
| Queen's Knight Defence | ... Nc6 |
d5 |
Less common | |||||
| Borg Gambit | ... | Very rare, could transpose to Borg Defense |
All possible Black's moves
edit| Quick Navigation |
Na6 a6 a5 |
b6 b5 |
Nc6 c6 c5 |
d6 d5 |
e6 e5 |
Nf6 f6 f5 |
g6 g5 |
Nh6 h6 h5 |
References
edit
- Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.
- Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
- Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.