Learn the Queen's Gambit

D06-D69, E00-E19 · a repertoire for white · 10 chapters · 60 annotated lines

"One coherent 1.d4 2.c4 system for White against everything Black tries"

The Queen's Gambit is the most respected way to open the game with the queen's pawn: play 1.d4 and 2.c4, fight for the centre with pieces rather than pawns, and grind out a lasting positional edge. This course gives you one complete, coherent White repertoire — not a pile of disconnected lines, but a single system you build the same way every game. Against the Queen's Gambit Declined you take on d5 and run the classic minority attack; against the Slav, the QGA, the Nimzo-Indian, the Grünfeld, the King's Indian and the Benoni you meet each with a principled, engine-checked main line that shares the same ideas: seize the centre, develop naturally, castle kingside, and target a concrete pawn or square. Every line is verified with Stockfish and every plan is explained, so you learn the 'why' behind the moves and can play the whole repertoire on understanding.

What's inside

• Chapter 1: The Exchange QGD & the Minority Attack
  Lines: The Minority Attack — the Main Plan, The Same Position from 1...Nf6 (Transposition)
• Chapter 2: QGD — Black's Other Setups in the Exchange
  Lines: The ...g6 Fianchetto — Punish ...Bf5 with Qb3, The ...Qb6 Pinprick — Punish It with 8.Bxf6!, The ...c5 Break — Win the d5 Pawn, The 4...Nxd5 Recapture — Build the Big Centre, The 4...Nxd5 Recapture — 6...Be7, the Club Favourite
• Chapter 3: The Slav Defense
  Lines: The Main Slav: 4...dxc4 5.a4 and the Ne5 Squeeze, The Chebanenko: 4...a6 and the Bishop Pair, The Semi-Slav: 4...e6 — Strike with e4, The Schlechter Slav — 4...g6 and the Bishop Pair, The 5.a4 with 7...Bd6 — Break with e4
• Chapter 4: The Queen's Gambit Accepted
  Lines: The Classical Main Line — 7.dxc5 and a Safe Endgame Pull, The Isolated Queen's Pawn — 6...Nc6, Black Expands with ...a6 and ...b5, The 4...Bg4 Pin — Win the Bishop Pair, The 4...Bg4 Pin — Black Keeps the Bishop with 6...Bh5
• Chapter 5: The Nimzo-Indian — Rubinstein 4.e3
  Lines: The Main Rubinstein Tabiya (8.a3), The ...dxc4 IQP with ...b6, The ...b6 Fianchetto and the e5 Outpost, The Hübner — ...c5, ...Bxc3+ and the Closed Centre
• Chapter 6: The Grünfeld — Exchange Variation
  Lines: The Main Line — Meet ...Qa5+ with Qd2, Meeting ...Nc6 with d4-d5, ...Bg4 — Welcome the Trade, The Prins — 5...Nb6 Keeps the Centre Clean, The 7...O-O Move Order — and the ...Qa5 Pawn Grab
• Chapter 7: The King's Indian — Classical Main Line
  Lines: The Bayonet Attack (7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4), The Exchange with 7...exd4, The 7...Na6 Regrouping, The Classical 7...Nbd7 — Exchange and Press
• Chapter 8: The Benoni & Benko — 3.d5
  Lines: The Classical Benoni — f3, Nd2-c4 and a4, Benoni Counterplay — ...a6 and ...b5 Met by a4, The Benko Gambit Declined — 5.b6, Benko Declined — the ...e6 Central Break, Black Skips the Fianchetto — 6...Be7
• Chapter 9: Minor Defenses — Chigorin, Albin & Tarrasch
  Lines: The Chigorin — Take on d5, Keep the Bishops, The Albin Counter-Gambit — Fianchetto and Hold, The Tarrasch — Rubinstein's Fianchetto vs the IQP, The Baltic — Punish the Greedy ...Bxb1, The Symmetrical 2...c5 — Trade Down to a Pull
• Chapter 10: The Dutch & Offbeat First Moves
  Lines: The Leningrad Dutch — Double Fianchetto Grip, The Stonewall — Trade the Good Bishop with Ba3, The Classical Dutch — Break with e4

Free sample: the main line, move by move

• 1. d4 — The Queen's Gambit begins. You claim the centre with the queen's pawn and prepare to challenge d5 with c4.
• 1... d5 — Black stakes an equal claim in the centre — the Queen's Gambit proper.
• 2. c4 — The gambit move. You are not really giving up a pawn; you are offering to trade your c-pawn for Black's central d-pawn to gain a lead in the centre.
• 2... e6 — The Queen's Gambit Declined — Black shores up d5 with the e-pawn, accepting a slightly passive but rock-solid position.
• 3. Nc3 — Develop toward the centre and pile a second attacker onto d5. This is our spine: knight to c3 before f3 whenever the position allows.
• 3... Nf6 — Black develops and adds a third defender to d5.
• 4. cxd5 — The Exchange Variation. By taking now — before Black can recapture with a piece — you fix the Carlsbad structure and get a clear, one-sided plan: the minority attack.
• 4... exd5 — Black recaptures with the e-pawn, giving the classic Carlsbad structure: White pawns on d4, Black pawns on c7 and d5. The whole middlegame revolves around White's b4-b5 break against c6.
• 5. Bg5 — Pin the f6 knight and pressure d5. The bishop is beautifully placed here, eyeing the e7 bishop and tying Black's kingside down.
• 5... Be7 — Black breaks the pin and prepares to castle.
• 6. Qc2 — A multi-purpose move: the queen eyes h7 (with the coming Bd3 it forms a battery), covers the c-file, and rules out any ...Bf5 freeing move — the bishop would simply be met by Qxf5 or Bxf5.
• 6... c6 — Black solidifies d5 and gives the queen's bishop the c7-square to breathe. This is the pawn we will attack with b4-b5.
• 7. e3 — Modest but exactly right: open the diagonal for the f1 bishop and keep the centre solid. There is no hurry — the Carlsbad plays itself once the pieces are placed.
• 7... O-O — Black castles into safety.
• 8. Bd3 — The bishop takes aim at h7, completing the Qc2 + Bd3 battery. If Black is ever careless, sacrifices on h7 loom; more importantly the bishop is simply well placed.
• 8... Nbd7 — Black develops the last minor piece and heads for the kingside regroup ...Nf8-g6/e6.
• 9. Nge2 — The key square. In the Exchange QGD the knight belongs on e2, not f3 — from here it can reroute to g3 (hitting f5 and h5), it keeps the f-pawn free for a later f3-e4, and it does not block the c2-h7 battery or the f-file.
• 9... Re8 — Black centralises the rook on the half-open e-file and continues the ...Nf8 regroup.
• 10. O-O — You castle. The opening phase is complete; now the plan begins.
• 10... Nf8 — Black reroutes the knight toward g6 or e6, a standard Carlsbad manoeuvre to defend the kingside and eye e4/f4.
• 11. Rab1 — The minority attack is launched. The a-rook swings behind the b-pawn, preparing b4-b5. Note it must be this rook — the f1 rook also sees b1 down the open first rank, so 'Rab1' names the a1 rook.
• 11... a5 — Black's most testing defence: the a-pawn tries to freeze b4 by meeting it with ...axb4 and keeping the queenside from opening on White's terms.
• 12. a3 — Prepare b4 anyway. You will recapture on b4 with the a-pawn and keep the minority attack rolling.
• 12... Ng6 — Black completes the regroup, the knight eyeing e5 and f4.
• 13. b4 — The break. You threaten b5, hitting c6; if Black allows bxc6 the c-pawn becomes a lasting weakness.
• 13... axb4 — Black releases the tension.
• 14. axb4 — Recapture, and the position is exactly what the Exchange QGD promises: an open a-file for your rook, a rolling b-pawn aimed at c6, and a durable structural target. White is comfortably better and simply plays b5 next.

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