Modern QGD Exchange for Black

GM Illingworth

Updated: Apr 17, 2020, 11:58 PM | 4

Hello chess friends,

Here is a short game selection I prepared with some nice modern Black wins in the Exchange Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5) to give you an example of what I share with my group members in 'The Chess Improvement Group'. This is a paid chess group, so please don't try to join the group if you haven't paid money for the membership already - I need every minute I can get to help chess players around the world achieve their chess rating and improvement goals!

Typically it is thought that 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 is a more precise move order to the Queen's Gambit Declined, because after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 (instead of the Nimzo-Indian, 3...Bb4), White has extra options along with the transpositional 4.Nf3 - in 4.Bg5 (which is admittedly not so dangerous after 4...Be7 followed by the Lasker or Tartakower setup) or the Exchange with 4.cxd5, which is a common recommendation in 1.d4 repertoire books for White!

However, I am not so sure that the Exchange QGD is actually at all worse for Black. We have some good discussions about this in my group, but for now, let's get to the games!

First, a recent blitz game by the 2019 Banter Blitz Cup winner Alireza Firouzja, where he uses the modern idea of 8.Nge2 Nf8! to prepare ...Ne6 and save a tempo for the standard ...Nf8/...g6/...Ne6 plan - Black will not even need to play ...Re8 after ...0-0 to clear the f8-square for the knight. And the standard f3/e4 plan is simply not working well if Black can keep the pressure on the d4-pawn or hold the position with ...f5:

Meanwhile, our next game shows the limitations of the Nf3 plan by White - Black can refine his move order by playing an accelerated ...Ne4, securing this ideal square for his knight to restrain White's central majority. Though the opening was not at fault for White's loss in this super-GM game, it's still a nice example for Black:

Observe how flexible Black's knight was on the ideal 'Petrosian' square of d6. From here, the knight can jump into c4 if White tries a minority attack with b4. But in the game, the e4 break could be ignored, as the knight on e5 was interfering with the standard follow-up of e5 and f4-f5 to attack the kingside and take over the game.

Our next game is perhaps not the most accurate example, as the whole idea of losing many tempi just to eliminate the White dark-squared bishop feels a bit excessive to me. Even so, it demonstrates that the QGD Exchange is not a purely defensive opening for Black and can be used to create dynamic chances if you're willing to take some risks:

By comparison, Yilmaz's other game in this variation is much cleaner, where he follows all the right plans: keep the knight on e4; trade the 'bad' light-squared bishop on c8; put the knight on d6 to stop the minority attack with b4-b5 (...Nc4 is good in reply) and then gradually advance on the kingside. Note that the thematic advance of the h-pawn was more effective than usual because of the 'hook' on g3, which forced open the kingside effectively to secure a decisive advantage and the full point:

Our next game was quite a creative effort, where White played Nge2 but met the ...Nf8 plan with queenside castling instead. The thematic reply to 0-0-0 is to play ...b5-b4 and charge the queenside pawns toward White's king to open lines (often with a ...c5 break), but Sjugirov kept flexible and was rewarded when Timofeev was too impulsive in changing the position (e.g. with 14.Nf4, which weakens the structure too much).

Our next game shows that the queenside expansion plan can also work well in the Nge2 lines when White castles short. White finds it hard to get in e4 without losing the d4-pawn, which means that Black gets a nice amount of space and can prepare ...c5 like in the game for full counterplay and equality. The arising IQP structure is probably equal, but Abasov handled it better and went on to win:

But what about 8.Qc2, the old main line? Well, this move is no longer seen that much at a high level, as it allows the liquidating ...Nh5! plan, trading the bishops to solve Black's typical problem of trading the pieces to relieve his congestion. Once Black can trade a pair of bishops in the QGD Exchange, his remaining pieces find natural squares much more easily. The following historic win by Onischuk is a great example of the principle that Black should castle on the same side as the opponent in these ...Nh5 setups:

Notice how Nakamura tried to play very ambitiously and grab space on the kingside, but in the end, it only created weaknesses that Black could exploit with his pieces (such as by occupying the opened h-file).

It's true, I did not cover what I consider to be the critical move order for White in the Exchange QGD. For that, you will have to see Nikos Ntirlis's recommendation in our group! By the way, Nikos wrote a really great repertoire book for Black on the Queen's Gambit Declined, so he knows what he is talking about in this opening!

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Modern QGD Exchange for Black

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