Queens Gambit Declined ( Ragozin defense ).

The most popular move order of our time to reach the Ragozin is : 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 This defence, which at first sight looks like some kind of mixture of the Queen's Gambit Declined and the Nimzo-Indian, was introduced into practice by Viacheslav Vasilievich Ragozin (1908-1962), in his time a top grandmaster from the Soviet-Union, and also a well-known theoretican. He was a close friend of Mikhail Botvinnik and helped him in many occasions, including World Championship matches. Ragozin's best individual achievements include a 2nd place at the 1947 Chigorin Memorial ahead of Keres, Smyslov, Boleslavsky, Kotov and Gligoric, and winning the 1959 World Correspondence Championship.