Chess Opening Theory/1. d4

Queen's Pawn Opening
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. d4
ECO code: A40-A99, D00-D99 and E00-E99
Parent: Starting position

1. d4 · Queen's Pawn Opening

1. d4, called the Queen's Pawn Opening, is the 2nd most popular initial move, in the same ballpark as 1. e4 in terms of games played. White makes an aggressive claim to the center. 1. d4 is played to prevent Black from getting the useful move ...e5 in straight away. It also discourages Black from developing the b8 knight to c6, where the pawn can advance to d5 and kick it. White isn't necessarily interested in developing the c1-bishop straight away – it tends to be the least important piece to develop. 1. d4 is more about slowing down Black's development than speeding up 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 the 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 considered 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

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.

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

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	=
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	+/=
	... 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)
Queen's Knight Defence	... Nc6	d5						Less common
Polish Defence	... b5	e4						Less common

References

• 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.