Queen's Gambit Declined is one of the richest and most solid games in chess. Most commonly, white develops the bishop to g5 to attack the knight, an option which uses the darksquare bishop to reduce black's control of the lightsquares--these lines are tricky and full of traps and long memorized sequences. This is the more straightforward Harrwitz Attack, where white develops the bishop in the London style to f4. These cedes some control of e4 to black, but clamps down on e5.

At this point, white has not castled nor has white developed the king's bishop. White is hoping to delay moving the bishop until black takes dxc4, and black is trying to delay that capture until white brings out the bishop, because white has to waste a move to develop the bishop to e2 or d3, then recapture on c4. Black usually wins the waiting game because white will run out of thematic productive waiting moves (Rc1, Qc2, h3, b3...) while black gets a lead in development.

Another idea for black is Nh5, attacking the bishop--this only works once the pawn is moved to e3 cutting off the retreat. However, since white has yet to castle, the bishop can move to g3, and if Nxg3, hxg3, the rook is suddenly staring at the black king's position. So this strategy is best to keep until white castles. White often will play h3 before castling to give the bishop an escape square.

Black has four strategic objectives over the next several moves: a) develop the queenside pieces, b) reinforce the control of d5 and by extension e4, c) challenge white's control of the dark squares in the center, and d) leverage black's control of c5. There are 5 main moves in the position which address these to varying degrees.

c5-the immediate pawn break induces dxc5 Bxc5, moving the bishop a second time and allowing white to catch up in development. White's grip on e5 is loosened and black is free to develop the queen's knight to c6 and bring the queen out on the open c7 diagonal. Black will often end up with an isolated queen's pawn after several exchanges on d5, which will become the defining feature of the position.

c6-instead of blowing up the center, black reinforces it. Now white doesn't gain much by taking on d5 and the game stays closed. White often plays Bd3, trying to fight for e4 enough to force dxc4, Bxc4. Otherwise, black will try to hold the c4 pawn with b5 and perhaps a6. Qc2 is another thematic move to control e4. Another interesting idea here is the c5 pawn advance, removing black's hold on that square and attempting to prove that black's control of the lightsquares is not as dangerous as whites control of the darksquares.

b6-preparing Bb7 (supporting the lightsquares esp. d5) as well as c5. The most strategically complete move, but it is a little slow because it prepares a lot of good moves, but white has time to counter before those moves can be executed.

Nd7-a thematic waiting room that doesn't commit to much. Add control to the c5 square and challenge the e5 square a little, develop the knight, and don't make any decisions yet about deploying pawns. White usually responds with a thematic waiting move.

a6-a subtle move that controls b5 without committing the c-pawn. If white allows dxc4, Bxc4 b5, Bd3 Bb7, black suddenly has the initiative. However, white can often play down the importance of the b5 square and the a6 move becomes a questionable expenditure of a move while folding into many of the above ideas.

Another idea is the explosive Ne4--if you control the square, then use it! White can respond Qc2, which sets up recaptures on either e4 or c3, but after Nxc3, Qxc3, black still controls e4. Other responses to Ne4 are Nxe4, Rc1, or Bd3 (Nxc3, bxc3 and white should be able to trade off the extra c-pawn for the d5 pawn then place the rook on b1).

To get to this position, you would most likely see 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3. However, many move orders are possible and white only need play c4 before Nc3 and Bf4 before e3. Another common move order might be 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bf4 Be7 5.Nc3 0-0 6.e3. Or 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Be7 5.c4 0-0 6.Nc3. Or 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3.

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