Easiest answer to d4

Thanks for letting me know.

When I was a kid I liked to play openings like the Benkö, Budapest... But when I faced stronger opponents I got crushed in every (side)line. It seemed that I didn´t have a clue what was going on.

So at a bright moment I bought "Andrew Soltis - Black Defensive System For The Rest Of Your Chess Career". It involves a system, c6 and d5 against every possible line. Slav against d4, Caro Kann Nd7 variation, solid lines against the English, Bird, BDG etc...  

It gave me equal positions, because I knew what was going on on the board. I found out that I could beat people of my own strength because I knew what to play in the early middlegames. And after some time when my technique improved I could keep up with stronger players.

In the meantime I bought "Soltis - Winning with 1 c4, a complete opening system", which usually gave me a slight advantage. (You can find them in ebook format on the internet if you want to have a look, just google it)

So my theory is: play what you UNDERSTAND, don´t be affraid to get an equal position, rely on your technique and you should improve quickly.

The Benoni is a fine defense, and can be a lot of fun to play as black, but there is no universe in which it can be considered "the easiest answer to d4."

WOoops...caught me there.  You are so right, my mistake.  Ward's book is a repetoire book for white.  I thought there was a "Play the..." version of the QGD, because there's a "Starting Out:...." and I looked up the titles in my ChessBase Light.  Sorry about that!

The best QGD book is definitely the old one by Mathew Sadler.

Kasparov thinks the Benoni is terrible. Good enough for me.

Sadler's book is super awesome.  I own all these books and they all served a purpose in learning about this classic and awesome defense.  After getting through Sadler's or Macdonald's, it's worth it to get Cox's, because it's an up to date treatise on the line, which offers black a viable answer to the lines where white plays the exchange variation with Ne2, 0-0-0, the Kasparov plan, and everything, in the form of an endgame which has a similar flavor to the Berlin Endgames, and is described as such in the book.  As an amateur we see the exchange or carlsbad variation a lot, so this is really necessary.  Also, if you intend to play the QGD as your main defense to D4 and/or by transpostion against C4, you need a response to the Catalan, and Cox covers that too.  I wouldn't do Cox alone as a first book because he is shorter on explanation than the other great authors mention, but I felt like it was the missing piece to my QGD puzzle after reading the others.

I think Black has an easy game currently in the Lasker variation, and that Nf3/Bf4 is more of a test. And I prefer the Alatortsev move order (3...Be7) to avoid the annoying continuations of the Exchange variation. Naka tried the "recommended" 3...Be7 4.cd5 ed5 5.Bf4 against Aronian in the Tal Memorial, but he got absolutely nothing out of the opening (he was probably a tad worse).

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bad advancedcomic.

bad.

@ SchachMatt: Don't feed the trolls, please.

Easiest answer to d4 is imho Nf6, leading into a King's Indian. 

@pfren:  OK

Easiest to play? Easiest to learn? Two different things.

I'm loving the Tartakower Variation of the QGD.  It's solid without being completely drawish (I'm looking at you, Slav).

It may also be worth reading Mark Morss's take on the Queen's Gambit and how it can be a point machine for white at club levels. I think he's being a little to hard on Black playing 1...d5 ("condemning himself to a struggle!") but it does a good job at summarizing how white typically deals with the different flavors of 1.d4 d5 defenses by Black.

Ah, mr. Morss endorses 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. cxd5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 exd5 11. Qb3 Rd8 12. c4 in the Lasker. Mr. Topalov followed suit at his second Lasker encounter with Anand, and was lost just seven moves later.

Agree with pfren that Lasker defense a good opening. There is a nice chapter on it too in Yusupov's "Build up your chess". One possible drawback is that some of the lines are a bit flat, and quite difficult to beat weaker players with. Especially remembering a typical 1.d4 club player plays in quite a solid style. For example have mentioned Anand's win against Topalov in the 7Rc1 line, but think the recent game in Tal Memorial against Aronian is more typical.

If want to beat weaker opponents more often, and prepared to work on a more complicated opening, think the KingsIndian is worth it.

Indeed the Lasker is not suitable for an all-out winning game. But one can play the Lasker to safely draw, even against strong opponents, and the Ragozin to win.

If you're right handed, 1. ... a6 may be the easiest answer to 1. d4, as it probably requires the least physical exertion to pick up the a-pawn and move it one square.