QGA Good or bad,

Ive only played this opening a few times,what you all think?

It is a fine opening, if you know it.  I'm in a group called The Queen's Gambit Players, and we play QGA in vote chess pretty often.  We should cover the full range of QGD/QGA and all things 1. d4 d5 2. c4, but we have our favorites and QGA is one.  

If played perfectly by white, black will have a very hard time to equalize, than he will in the QGD. However, people don't play like computers and you will be able to get a good game with the sharp QGA. 

http://www.chess.com/home/messages

pHUMpK1Ns wrote

If played perfectly by white, black will have a very

hard time to equalize, than he will in the QGD. However,

people don't play like computers and you will be able to

get a good game with the sharp QGA. 

So probably better in otb. or blitz rather than cc.

or longer live games then.

What about that a4 pawn move for white after the gambit

Is accepted, not a necessity i ssuppose, but to me it looks like the best line to follow, otherwise it looks like white can get a pretty good pawn hold on that side.

are you asking after ... dxc4; a4?  I don't think that would be considered a real fight for the advantage by white.  Only if black plays 3. ... b5 trying to protect the pawn should white "play that game".  Join the Queen's Gambit Players group, we really dissect the opening in vote chess.

I agree with musicalhair: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.a4? is not the best move and only rarely played. My chess engine gives me the following: 3...e5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.e5 Bg4 with a half pawn advantage for black.

The a2-a4 move is a good move in other openings which transposes to the QGA, such as our (pHUMpK1Ns vs. einstein99) cc game which transposed to the QGA from the slav defence.

The critical line in the QGA is 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 as suggested by databases, but white has a very strong center.

I think you touch on something very important about the QGA, that it has the potential to transpose into a lot of different lines and vice versa depending one what is played-- and that usually entails someone seeing a chance for an advantatgeous transposition. 

The tradition has always been that 3. Nf3 is best with e3 to follow very soon (can't leave that pawn there too long); but many many players have just decided to play 3. e4 and fight for everything.  The game is a fight either way if black is fully prepared, no different than in games where black declines the pawn, it us just that black will get his development done and have a "freer" game than say standard QGD lines, with less risk than in a lot of Semi-Slav lines if white decides to through down the gauntlet.  There really is nothing wrong with playing QGA if black, and because of all the ways it can transpose I think anyone who plays 1. ... d5 or early ... d5 should know it and use it.

Ok, that makes sense to me now hair. Ive played the e4 move a few times and it always turned into a dogfight. As black ive played the accepted maybe 4 or 5 times, wherebI would advance the queen side pawns fairly rapidly,b5, a6, and i think c6, but that was at around 1600 levels I think, dont know if that would work at higher levels though?

Just ask Kramnik...

Wish I could ask Kramnik, guess Ill look at his stuff, thanks.

The QGA is fine for black, as long as you don't try to hold on to the pawn.

That's the one thing beginners do, that lands them in trouble.

hmm