My First Time Trying Out the Queen's Gambit

Hello nerds. Some of you may know me quite well, and for some that do not… I hate 1.d4…I despise it. I think it kills the nature of chess as a bloody war between 2 players. Pieces clashing, insane tactics, sacrifices, open lines, direct and confrontational play. For that reason I've been playing e4 since my days from the 1200 ELO ladder.

The shift

But honestly I think I'm just lying to myself. Chess is nothing as I described up there, just some load of cobblers…call it utopia if you will. I realized that this kind of thought won't get me anywhere near mastery. What will take you to the next level is not just tactics, not how well you attack, or not how well you spot sacrifices…but what will do is your overall understanding of the game and it includes a LOT MORE than the latter skills. 

My inspiration

Strategic play and positional chess are as important as tactical and confrontational chess. And what better way to learn a strategical and positional style than to watch the Soviets in action: Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik, Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian…these legends of the game shaped my vision. Prophylaxis, negating your opponent's play, thinking long term, maximize the potential of your pieces, having eyes everywhere to spot every weakness, or to spot future weaknesses. This is the style that I'm leaning towards right now.

Starting it out…

And what better way to start it than play the Queen's Gambit. EVERY grandmaster has tried this opening at least once and this is my first time.

For Queen's Gambit experts, I want to hear your thoughts about what system you think is the best for White. I play the Exchange variation with the Nge2 system, trying to prepare f3 and launch for e4, the way it is played by the patriarch Mikhail Botvinnik.

Here is the game, I haven't been able to execute the plans very well. It is my first time and I think my opponent didn't play well at all so please take it with the pinch of salt!

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Obviously this isn't the end of it. I have in my possession the book Playing 1.d4 by Danish Grandmaster Lars Schandorff, both volumes. In the next months I will be prepared by anything coming after 1.d4 (except the "Viih Sou" type of players ).