Queen's Gambit Declined [Paperback]

Matthew Sadler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

Grandmaster Sadler explains the key ideas behind the Queen's Gambit Declined, one of Black's most dependable responses to the queen's pawn. Covering the major variations in popular practice and highlighting developments, the book offers theory and thematic ideas.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In this book Grandmaster Sadler explains the ideas behind the Queen's Gambit Declined, one of Black's most dependable replies to the queen's pawn. He discusses all of the major variations in popular practice, explaining the key plans and ideas and highlighting important recent developments. Written by Grandmaster Matthew Sadler, one of the world's top young players, this book offers a full explanation of both the latest theory and important thematic ideas and covers the ever-popular Queen's Gambit Declined. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 176, pages, b&w illustrations)

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442563
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442564
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #709,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I tip my hat to GM Sadler., September 19, 2000

By 

A.J. Goldsby I "A.J.G." (Pensacola, FL (U.S.A.)) - See all my reviews

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

When you first pick this book up, you are struck by its quality. Nice binding, sturdy and beautiful flex-cover, clear typesetting, white pages that are opaque and have almost no bleedthrough. (Hold one of the pages up to a strong light and you can barely see the print on the opposite side of the page!) I have spent many hours in this book preparing this review, (somewhere between 20-50); and the book shows almost no wear-and-tear at all! The publisher obviously went through great pains to produce a quality product. Begin to read inside and you see the author has produced an atypical opening book also. The first part of the book is an introduction where the author explains some of the basic ideas of the QGD in a very instructive question and answer format. The author even delves into things not usually covered by an opening book, such as various possible move orders and how they affect what you have to learn in the Opening as White and Black. I went through the book with a fine-toothed comb looking for errors of the type that chess books usually contain dozens, if not hundreds, of. I found no typo's, no diagrams with an incorrect position, no games with move pairs left out, no mistakes in analysis, etc. Obviously, the PC and chess programs are having a huge impact on the market of chess books. The publisher must also have a first-rate proofreader, someone who obviously must play chess!! (A plus over convention!)

The author covers virtually every line one could conceive of facing in the Queen's Gambit Declined, with one notable exception. (The Cambridge Spring's Defense for some reason is left out.) The author continues his highly instructive question and answer format. He often delves into questions of strategy and many other topics not usually covered by a chess opening's book. He uses complete games for a model, and the student always gets the entire game - from move one to the resignation! (An improvement over the norm for chess books.)

Chapter One covers the Lasker's variation, an early ...Ne4 in the QGD. Chap. Two covers the Orthodox variation with 6...Nbd7, (Old Main Line), and the various systems after 7. Rc1, c6. (He covers Capablanca's freeing maneuver, [early ...dxc4; and/or ...Nd5;]; without crediting the originator.) Chap. Three covers the Orthodox variation and even covers the ultra-modern 7. Rc1, a6!? Chap. Four covers White's 7th move alternatives in the Orthodox variation. Chapters Five and Six covers the Tartakower Variation in complete and up-to-date fashion. Part Two, [Chapters 7 & 8]; covers The Exchange Variation. (An early cxd5 by White.) The final section of the book [Part Three], deals with such lines as an early BxN/f6 by White, and 5. Bf4.

The coverage in this book is very modern; you will find very few "old/classic" games in here. (Necessary for a modern chess opening's book. The average game dates from 1985 to the present.) The coverage is fairly balanced, with both White and Black on the winning side. The author has obviously strived to make this a quality book and has even turned it into an outstanding teaching vehicle! I can find only a few minor faults with this book. I am puzzled how one could write a book on the "Classical" QGD and omit coverage of the Cambridge Spring's Defense. (A modern player can certainly count on seeing this line even today. It is certainly as likely a variation as any of the others in this book.) Some of the games that I thought were key to opening theory, (See any Informant, NCO, or MCO-14.); are not necessarily covered here. I am not sure what the criterion was for choosing the games, and the author does not explain that in this book. And the author often lets 25 moves of a game, (or more) transpire with virtually no comment. (BUT! ... the games are ALL complete; again, this is a plus over "the norm.") But again, for the most part, these concerns are trivial. I will conclude my critique by noting that the Table of Contents serves as an outstanding index of the variations, and there is a first-rate index of complete games.

If I were grading this book as a teacher might, I would give an "A+." On a scale of 1-10, I would give it an 8.5, which is as high a mark as I would be willing to give any opening book. (A pity. Had all of my concerns mentioned here [above] been addressed, I might have awarded it a perfect 10!!) This book sets a very high mark for a book on the openings, and all the others that come after this one will be judged by this new standard. The bottom line? If you currently play the White or Black side of the QGD in either postal or over-the-board chess, then you MUST buy this book! If you are below 1800 USCF and spend just a little time with this book, then you will probably learn as much as you have ever learned from any chess book, period. This is the highest praise you will ever see this reviewer giving an opening book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book if you play the QGD as BLACK, July 24, 2001

By A Customer

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

I emphasize that this is an extremely good book, with clear explanations, and provides everything you must know to play the QGD as Black. For those of you that play it as White (I play the QGD from both sides, but luckily, I play the Exchange as White, and lines with 4...Be7 as Black, which are both covered in this book), this book is not complete, and you will have to find other sources for lines in which Black delays or avoids the bishop development to e7 (i.e. The Cambridge Springs variation, just to name one). Other than the omissions of the 4...Nbd7 lines, it's an excellent book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for the 1 d4 player (and his opponent!), September 16, 2005

By 

Aluminium Horse (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

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

This book deals mainly with 4...Be7 systems, with chapters on the Lasker, Orthodox systems, Tartakover, Exchange, Bxf6 systems, and the 5.Bf4 variation. All 110 games in these chapters are complete. The notes are relevant and a joy to read, with complete sentences to explain the moves or alternate moves in question, unlike those in pretentious books that try to be exhaustive by giving too many irrelevant variations, and are just tedious and boring. The last chapter, "Queen's Gambit Declined: `General Knowledge'", is four pages long and has two classical traps and a paragraph for each of four alternatives to 4...Be7: Bb4, Nbd7, c5, and dxc4. If you want a QGD book that delves deeper into some of these variations in addition to 4...Be7, check out Bogdan Lalic's "Queen's Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems", also from Everyman and runner-up for the British Chess Federation's Book of the Year award, the award "Queen's Gambit Declined" got in 2000. If you want a book on the Tarrasch, look at Jacob Aagaard's "Meeting 1 d4".

But missing those lines is not a problem, because the author aims to give the reader a general understanding of the opening, not a complete repertoire. To this end, Sadler uses several examples from other queen pawn openings (like Semi-Slav, QGA, Nimzo-Indian) which are not digressions, but very relevant because after all, "(t)he QGD is the original queen's pawn opening; modern systems such as the Slav and Semi-Slav or the QGA have developed by taking features from the QGD and accelerating them..." (Sadler).

Sadler uses a wonderful Q&A format to explain the ideas of the QGD. These questions and answers give the reader a more solid understanding of the opening based on general strategy, which is something missing in most chess books.

"QGD" gives advice to both sides on how to transpose into the QGD. For example, 3 Nf3 avoids the Nimzo-Indian, 1 c4 avoids the QGA, and then 1...e6! can transpose into the QGD. This flexibility makes knowing the line good for both Black and White players.

Don't let the fact that Sadler deals mainly with 4...Be7 discourage you from buying this book. You will find after reading it that 4...Be7 can be much more solid than the alternatives, and that your game against other queen pawn openings will improve.