Easiest answer to d4

Where does one go for a reliable starting point in the Ragozin?  I am interested and I know little about it.  From looking in Databases it often transposes into a Nimzo-Indian.  I would welcome it as an addition to my  QGD

Hey Tom

I can't find any reviews of this book - can you tell me a bit about it please ? What level is it aimed at?

And another thing...this book seems to be downloadable all over the web as a PDF document - anyone know how legal this is? My guess is "not at all legal", but does anyone know ?

@ ScachMatt: AFAIK there is no dedicated book on the Ragozin.

The main problem with it is not the positions (which are excellent) but the difficulty to bring it on board using the QGD move order after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3. Normally you have a Ragozin via the Queen's indian move order, but Black may attempt (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3) Bb4!?

It may look a tad odd, but there's an interesting article about it in "Secrets of Opening Surprises" vol. 11 named "The Accelerated Ragozin" by GM Nikita Vitiugov, who is employing it regularly, as well as GM Baadur Jobava. Both have decent results with it, but as you know both are players of the 2700+ league...

@ IpswichMatt: AFAIK the book publisher (Ken Smith's Chess Digest Inc.) is not doing business anymore. But since the second edition of this book was made in 1997, the copyright is still valid, and so downloading it freely via the net is not exactly legal.

Soltis had made good work on it (as usual), but since the book is old, there had been no proof of the analyses using an engine.

Thanks pfren, I suspected as much.

There is book "The Ragozin Complex" from new in chess now.

Hi, Matt

I found this, submitted by a happy costumer on Amazon:

"This book covers a defensive system that will enable to you comfortably open with black whether white plays e4 or d4 (or many others). Most players learn multiple openings to deal with the differences between white's attacks when e4 or d4 is used, but Soltis shows that there are remarkable similarities between the Caro-Kann (to defend e4) and the Slav (to defend (d4), and that both systems can often evolve into similar or identical positions, thus enabling one to focus more of their time learning the familiar positions for both white attacks rather than two completely different defenses.

Soltis gives considerable explanation to all common variations and will leave any reader fully comprehending the mindset behind each move. Having played both the Caro-Kann and Slav predominantly in tournament play (and somewhat effectively) I can attest first hand that this book alone is enough to competently equalize in the opening all the way up to the expert level (under 2200)."

Ofcourse there are other books, for example "Starting Out - The King's Indian" combined with "Fighting the Anti-King's Indians", and you´re ready for d4. That is if you want to learn a more sharper opening. 

About downloading ebooks, I don´t see the problem of reading through a pdf version of a book before deciding to spend money on it, but that´s my opinion...

@TomFK

Many thanks for the helpful response! I'm trying to minimise the time I spend on opening theory and this looks like it might be the way to go.

What's the big idea behind 1.d4 c6 2.e3? Black can play something like 2...g6 and opt for a KID setup, or Grunfeld setup, or maybe Leningrad Dutch setup. In all those cases 2.e3 isn't white's best bet.

But I am a left handed person. Can I try 1...h6 as the easiest answer to 1.d4?

1...h5! gains more space...