Queen's Gambit Declined by GM Magesh and GM Arun

This week we shall study the Queen's Gambit Declined. No introduction needs to be given to this famous opening as this was the main weapon used in most of the World Chess Championship matches right from the First World Champion William Stenitz to the Current World Champion Vishy Anand who used this system and surprised everyone in his 12th game against Topalov to defend his title successfully. There was even one period in chess where the QGD was considered to be the most effective system against 1.d4. 

In today's article the first game we shall see features a sensational idea by the English Grandmaster Michael Adams against Vladimir Kramnik. Black came up with a pawn sacrifice and managed to draw the game pretty easily with the opposite colour bishops. It was a fantastic home preparation from Adams.

In this game after the pawn sacrifice White never had any real chances and was forced to make a draw with just a few accurate moves from Black. Our next game is between the Azeri giants Radjabov and Mamedyarov. Black employed the pawn sacrifice idea to which White reacted differently but still it was not enough to get any advantage.