Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems [Paperback]

Bogdan Lalic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

The Bg5 lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined include some of the most popular and important opening systems at all levels of play. Here, for the first time in many years, a strong and experienced grandmaster covers all lines of this opening in objective fashion. Lalic fully acquaints readers with the main lines, and prepares them to face unusual systems and rare gambit ideas with confidence. Among the lines covered are the Exchange Variation, Tartakower Defense, Lasker Defense, Cambridge Springs and the Classical Orthodox Defense, all of which have been used at World Championship level. This book contains comprehensive coverage of an important opening system written by a top-class grandmaster with strategic guidance for both White and Black.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Bg5 lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined include some of the most popular and important opening systems at all levels of play. Here, for the first time in many years, a strong and experienced grandmaster covers all lines of this opening in objective fashion. Lalic fully acquaints readers with the main lines, and prepares them to face unusual systems and rare gambit ideas with confidence. Among the lines covered are the Exchange Variation, Tartakower Defense, Lasker Defense, Cambridge Springs and the Classical Orthodox Defense, all of which have been used at World Championship level. This book contains comprehensive coverage of an important opening system written by a top-class grandmaster with strategic guidance for both White and Black. (5 3/4 x 8 1/4, 208 pages, illustrations)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442407
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442403
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,222,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I doubt the reviewer from Oakland's evaluation, June 24, 2002

By 

admeyer (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems (Paperback)

I doubt the other reviewer's evaluation

I have not read this book but I'm a hardcore 1.d4 practitioner that faces the QGD everyday. I was compelled to write a commentary because the other reviewer complained about there being three annotated games with the "ridiculous 8.Rb1." There is nothing ridiculous about this move that I play very often for the purpose of beginning the minority attack, an important plan that is a major component of the white side of the QGD. The book may give the impression that some of the lines are drawish and this makes sense since it is a very old opening and has been played at the championship level since the beginning.

The book got rated 7.5 out of 10 by Randy Bauer, a respected chess book aficionado whose reviews can be found at chessopolis.com (under "Randy's Revealing Reviews)." He says that the book would be more helpful to someone who is already an experienced practitioner of most of the lines - "The breakdown on key plans for both sides is mostly limited to quick listing of lines, and many players just learning a variation need more." Perhaps that's why the reader from Oakland disliked it. I should add that Bauer gave Mathew Sadler's book on the QGD an 8, and this is a book that won a chess book of the year award. So to get a 7.5 from Randy is definitely an achievement!

I myself rated this book with 4 stars based on Randy's system since I myself did not read the book. I would have avoided the rating system, but the site would not allow me to post without including it.

If the QGD is a new opening for you, I suggest Gambit's "The Road to Chess Improvement," by Alex Yermolinski. In just one chapter, he thoroughly explains in plain English the four major plans (including the minority attack) for white in the exchange variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 - there are of course many other transpositions). The book in general is a great read for any d4 player. It also was the runner-up for the chess book of the year award that was given to Mathew Sadler's book.

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment, June 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems (Paperback)

I have been very disappointed by this book, perhaps because it promised much more than it delivered. First, despite the editorial comment, it does not even attempt completeness. Entire important systems, the classical Orthodox as played by Capablanca and Alekhine among them, are mentioned only in short annotations or passed over with the justification that they are "out of fashion" - as if I was buying this summer's swimsuit catalog! This becomes almost absurd when one finds that on the other side, there are 3(!) complete annotated games with the ridiculous 8.Rb1??! against the Tartakower. And, again contrary to the editorial claim of objectivity, a bias for Black is perceptible, not so much in the evaluation of positions as in the choice of games. I didn't make precise statistics, but Black must have scored well over 50% in the games in the book. One gets the impression that the QGD is a particularly sharp and fighting defence :-/