Is QGA a good opening for black?

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ThrillerFan
Optimissed wrote:

I'd quite like to play you otb, ThrillerFan. We seem evenly matched on paper. I'm a bit out of match practice so I'd go for a slow time control. Wonder which way it would go.

 

Probably would be interesting.  Plan to move to the United States anytime soon?  LOL!

 

I actually have a number of tournaments coming up, aside from just the local Tuesday night 1 rated game a week:

 

Next weekend - 5 rounds in Charlotte

July 3rd - playing in a local Quad (3-rounds)

July 10-11 - 5 rounds in Charlottesville

July 24-26 - 5 rounds in Pittsburgh

 

Then August tends to be a lighter month as a lot of my Fantasy Football drafts are then.

ThrillerFan
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:

No it is NOT sound

 

That is one big fat lie!  The QGA is fully sound!  Obviously you need to know the theory, and obviously you don't know it if your claim is that it is unsound!

Whoa man. Calm down. I am right BTW

 

No, you are WRONG!  There is nothing unsound about the QGA.  Just because you do not know how to defend it does not make it unsound!

 

A lowly 1000-rated dingbat has no business judging the soundness of openings anyway!

 

SMH!

CALM.DOWN. Calling people dingbats probably isn't allowed BTW. And I am about 1200 or 1300. And white is better in QGA. Deal with it

 

Your profile says you are 1004, not 1200 or 1300.  But either way, I have you by miles!

 

I am roughly 2000 over the board, 2260 Correspondence (ICCF) and 1900 online.  You would be mince meat against me, even if I was Black in a QGA against you every game!

 

Stop making a complete fool out of yourself!  Sometimes keeping your mouth shut, or otherwise asking questions rather than spewing out lies, is the way to go when you are the clearly inferior player!

 

I hate and do not understand the Grunfeld at all, and I'd still kick your arse in a Grunfeld thematic!

 

SMH!

Man, getting angry won't help anyone. U r loosing your cool like a 2 year old 🤭

 

You clearly are clueless!

I am not angry at all!  I am laughing my arse off AT YOU, NOT WITH YOU!

 

Everything you have said thus far is stupid and it is hilarious that you are too dumb to know when to stop digging your grave even deeper, spewing out more and more BS!

 

What you are doing would be the equivalent to me trying to give a lecture on Indian culture to a bunch of people from India!  I would sound like the biggest moron on the planet if I did that, but yet this is what you sound like spewing out all those lies when you are clueless what you are talking about.

 

Take this advice seriously.  When you are clearly inferior by over 800 rating points, ask, don't tell.  You will sound a lot less stupid doing so.  There are 3 types of people out there:

 

1) Those with less knowledge that ask questions.

2) Those with more knowledge that give answers.

3) Morons that think they know everything and spew answers out their butt when they have no clue what they are talking about!

 

I sometimes fall in number 2 (threads on the French Defense or basic, high level questions on openings) and sometimes I fall in number 1 (a thread on Benoni theory), but I do not allow myself to be in group 3, and that is what you have done here!

 

The QGA is a SOUND DEFENSE!

I think everyone else on this forum is laughing at u. Noone cares, haven't u noticed? Noone cares about our little argument

Oh really?  Laughing at me, huh?  That is why post 62 contradicts all of YOUR posts!

 

And whether anyone cares or not is irrelevant!  They know I am right (see post 62) and that you sound like an utter moron.

 

Now they may very well be tired of hearing from us about it, and may find my posts "annoying but true", but the only one that they are "laughing at" is you!  (That is, unless they are equally as stupid as you, only then might those select few be laughing AT me!)

ThrillerFan
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:

No it is NOT sound

 

That is one big fat lie!  The QGA is fully sound!  Obviously you need to know the theory, and obviously you don't know it if your claim is that it is unsound!

Whoa man. Calm down. I am right BTW

 

No, you are WRONG!  There is nothing unsound about the QGA.  Just because you do not know how to defend it does not make it unsound!

 

A lowly 1000-rated dingbat has no business judging the soundness of openings anyway!

 

SMH!

CALM.DOWN. Calling people dingbats probably isn't allowed BTW. And I am about 1200 or 1300. And white is better in QGA. Deal with it

 

Your profile says you are 1004, not 1200 or 1300.  But either way, I have you by miles!

 

I am roughly 2000 over the board, 2260 Correspondence (ICCF) and 1900 online.  You would be mince meat against me, even if I was Black in a QGA against you every game!

 

Stop making a complete fool out of yourself!  Sometimes keeping your mouth shut, or otherwise asking questions rather than spewing out lies, is the way to go when you are the clearly inferior player!

 

I hate and do not understand the Grunfeld at all, and I'd still kick your arse in a Grunfeld thematic!

 

SMH!

Man, getting angry won't help anyone. U r loosing your cool like a 2 year old 🤭

 

You clearly are clueless!

I am not angry at all!  I am laughing my arse off AT YOU, NOT WITH YOU!

 

Everything you have said thus far is stupid and it is hilarious that you are too dumb to know when to stop digging your grave even deeper, spewing out more and more BS!

 

What you are doing would be the equivalent to me trying to give a lecture on Indian culture to a bunch of people from India!  I would sound like the biggest moron on the planet if I did that, but yet this is what you sound like spewing out all those lies when you are clueless what you are talking about.

 

Take this advice seriously.  When you are clearly inferior by over 800 rating points, ask, don't tell.  You will sound a lot less stupid doing so.  There are 3 types of people out there:

 

1) Those with less knowledge that ask questions.

2) Those with more knowledge that give answers.

3) Morons that think they know everything and spew answers out their butt when they have no clue what they are talking about!

 

I sometimes fall in number 2 (threads on the French Defense or basic, high level questions on openings) and sometimes I fall in number 1 (a thread on Benoni theory), but I do not allow myself to be in group 3, and that is what you have done here!

 

The QGA is a SOUND DEFENSE!

I think everyone else on this forum is laughing at u. Noone cares, haven't u noticed? Noone cares about our little argument

Oh really?  Laughing at me, huh?  That is why post 62 contradicts all of YOUR posts!

 

And whether anyone cares or not is irrelevant!  They know I am right (see post 62) and that you sound like an utter moron.

 

Now they may very well be tired of hearing from us about it, and may find my posts "annoying but true", but the only one that they are "laughing at" is you!  (That is, unless they are equally as stupid as you, only then might those select few be laughing AT me!)

U r clearly about 9 years old. Insulting people doesn't help anyone or help YOU prove your point. And, white is better in QGA. There is something called an analysis bar which clearly says that WHITE IS BETTER

 

I am a lot older than 9 you dimrod!  More than 5 times that!

 

Oh, that's right.  That much math is too complicated for you.

 

Also, if you are going based on what some weak computer like a 1 CPU Stockfish 10 says here on chess.com after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4, you're an idiot!

 

1) Computers, without an added opening book (there is no opening book on the chess.com bot), are unable to properly assess openings.  I guess the King's Indian Defense must be outright refuted based on your weak source of assessing openings!

2) EVERY response to 1.d4 will be SLIGHTLY better for White as White goes first!  The numbers on a computer are not gospel.  Even in a middlegame.  If a computer says 24.Rd1 is +0.42 and 24.Rc1 is +0.39, the first move is not necessarily better.  On a different day, it might say the first is +0.41 and the second is +0.46.  Now if it says 24.Rd1 is +0.43 and 24.Rc1 is -4.79 (Hangs to a Black Bishop on h6), this type of difference you can surely believe Rd1 is better than Rc1.

3) Numerical assessments between -1.2 and +1.2 mean nothing in the opening with no opening book built in.  You can take a computer with no opening book software built in (chessbase and Fritz do not come with opening books, they are separate), put it against itself, start with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O and it will say +1 at move 6, but by move 20, it is something like +0.4.  What happened to White's advantage if only best moves are played?  If it really is +1 at move 6, and the best move is played by both side every time for 10 straight moves, then it should be +1 at move 16.  If it is not, I guess the computer's +1 assessment was wrong, proving my point that computer's assessments are both wrong in the opening and not to be taken as gospel!

ThrillerFan
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:

No it is NOT sound

 

That is one big fat lie!  The QGA is fully sound!  Obviously you need to know the theory, and obviously you don't know it if your claim is that it is unsound!

Whoa man. Calm down. I am right BTW

 

No, you are WRONG!  There is nothing unsound about the QGA.  Just because you do not know how to defend it does not make it unsound!

 

A lowly 1000-rated dingbat has no business judging the soundness of openings anyway!

 

SMH!

CALM.DOWN. Calling people dingbats probably isn't allowed BTW. And I am about 1200 or 1300. And white is better in QGA. Deal with it

 

Your profile says you are 1004, not 1200 or 1300.  But either way, I have you by miles!

 

I am roughly 2000 over the board, 2260 Correspondence (ICCF) and 1900 online.  You would be mince meat against me, even if I was Black in a QGA against you every game!

 

Stop making a complete fool out of yourself!  Sometimes keeping your mouth shut, or otherwise asking questions rather than spewing out lies, is the way to go when you are the clearly inferior player!

 

I hate and do not understand the Grunfeld at all, and I'd still kick your arse in a Grunfeld thematic!

 

SMH!

Man, getting angry won't help anyone. U r loosing your cool like a 2 year old 🤭

 

You clearly are clueless!

I am not angry at all!  I am laughing my arse off AT YOU, NOT WITH YOU!

 

Everything you have said thus far is stupid and it is hilarious that you are too dumb to know when to stop digging your grave even deeper, spewing out more and more BS!

 

What you are doing would be the equivalent to me trying to give a lecture on Indian culture to a bunch of people from India!  I would sound like the biggest moron on the planet if I did that, but yet this is what you sound like spewing out all those lies when you are clueless what you are talking about.

 

Take this advice seriously.  When you are clearly inferior by over 800 rating points, ask, don't tell.  You will sound a lot less stupid doing so.  There are 3 types of people out there:

 

1) Those with less knowledge that ask questions.

2) Those with more knowledge that give answers.

3) Morons that think they know everything and spew answers out their butt when they have no clue what they are talking about!

 

I sometimes fall in number 2 (threads on the French Defense or basic, high level questions on openings) and sometimes I fall in number 1 (a thread on Benoni theory), but I do not allow myself to be in group 3, and that is what you have done here!

 

The QGA is a SOUND DEFENSE!

I think everyone else on this forum is laughing at u. Noone cares, haven't u noticed? Noone cares about our little argument

Oh really?  Laughing at me, huh?  That is why post 62 contradicts all of YOUR posts!

 

And whether anyone cares or not is irrelevant!  They know I am right (see post 62) and that you sound like an utter moron.

 

Now they may very well be tired of hearing from us about it, and may find my posts "annoying but true", but the only one that they are "laughing at" is you!  (That is, unless they are equally as stupid as you, only then might those select few be laughing AT me!)

U r clearly about 9 years old. Insulting people doesn't help anyone or help YOU prove your point. And, white is better in QGA. There is something called an analysis bar which clearly says that WHITE IS BETTER

 

I am a lot older than 9 you dimrod!  More than 5 times that!

 

Oh, that's right.  That much math is too complicated for you.

 

Also, if you are going based on what some weak computer like a 1 CPU Stockfish 10 says here on chess.com after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4, you're an idiot!

 

1) Computers, without an added opening book (there is no opening book on the chess.com bot), are unable to properly assess openings.  I guess the King's Indian Defense must be outright refuted based on your weak source of assessing openings!

2) EVERY response to 1.d4 will be SLIGHTLY better for White as White goes first!  The numbers on a computer are not gospel.  Even in a middlegame.  If a computer says 24.Rd1 is +0.42 and 24.Rc1 is +0.39, the first move is not necessarily better.  On a different day, it might say the first is +0.41 and the second is +0.46.  Now if it says 24.Rd1 is +0.43 and 24.Rc1 is -4.79 (Hangs to a Black Bishop on h6), this type of difference you can surely believe Rd1 is better than Rc1.

3) Numerical assessments between -1.2 and +1.2 mean nothing in the opening with no opening book built in.  You can take a computer with no opening book software built in (chessbase and Fritz do not come with opening books, they are separate), put it against itself, start with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O and it will say +1 at move 6, but by move 20, it is something like +0.4.  What happened to White's advantage if only best moves are played?  If it really is +1 at move 6, and the best move is played by both side every time for 10 straight moves, then it should be +1 at move 16.  If it is not, I guess the computer's +1 assessment was wrong, proving my point that computer's assessments are both wrong in the opening and not to be taken as gospel!

U r a very childish 45 year old. I am not going to answer u anymore

 

LOL!  You just can't accept the blunt truth and so you walk away with your tail between your legs!

 

You got outsmarted by a 46-year old geezer!

tygxc

#71
Black does not give white the center: black equalises with ...c5

dpnorman

The QGD is a good opening and can be played at all levels. The QGA is a good opening and can be played at all levels. The Slav is a good opening and can be played at all levels. 

If you are a beginner, you should not be studying chess theory anyhow. If you are strong enough to learn openings, any of these will be playable for you, as a main weapon, for your whole life, no matter how strong you become.

dpnorman
Optimissed wrote:

Black doesn't have to play c5. It's thought to be the best equalising method against 3. e4 but I play Nf6. There are ways of playing with Nc6 rather than c5. As white I play 3. Nf3 and 4.e3. I think that's a stronger method of development than e4 and white tends to dominate the centre. Black can attack on the Q-side.

Hm?

after 3. e4 not a lot of strong players will play c5. They will play e5 if they want to equalize, and Nf6 or even Nc6 if they want to play for a win with risk. 

dpnorman
Optimissed wrote:

<<The Slav is a good opening and can be played at all levels.>>

It can't be played well though! Not by <1800s.

I had great results with it playing it almost all of the time against d4/c4 from 1000-2000. I wasn’t playing well but neither were my opponents tongue.png 

ThrillerFan
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Tad2721 wrote:

No it is NOT sound

 

That is one big fat lie!  The QGA is fully sound!  Obviously you need to know the theory, and obviously you don't know it if your claim is that it is unsound!

Whoa man. Calm down. I am right BTW

 

No, you are WRONG!  There is nothing unsound about the QGA.  Just because you do not know how to defend it does not make it unsound!

 

A lowly 1000-rated dingbat has no business judging the soundness of openings anyway!

 

SMH!

CALM.DOWN. Calling people dingbats probably isn't allowed BTW. And I am about 1200 or 1300. And white is better in QGA. Deal with it

 

Your profile says you are 1004, not 1200 or 1300.  But either way, I have you by miles!

 

I am roughly 2000 over the board, 2260 Correspondence (ICCF) and 1900 online.  You would be mince meat against me, even if I was Black in a QGA against you every game!

 

Stop making a complete fool out of yourself!  Sometimes keeping your mouth shut, or otherwise asking questions rather than spewing out lies, is the way to go when you are the clearly inferior player!

 

I hate and do not understand the Grunfeld at all, and I'd still kick your arse in a Grunfeld thematic!

 

SMH!

Man, getting angry won't help anyone. U r loosing your cool like a 2 year old 🤭

 

You clearly are clueless!

I am not angry at all!  I am laughing my arse off AT YOU, NOT WITH YOU!

 

Everything you have said thus far is stupid and it is hilarious that you are too dumb to know when to stop digging your grave even deeper, spewing out more and more BS!

 

What you are doing would be the equivalent to me trying to give a lecture on Indian culture to a bunch of people from India!  I would sound like the biggest moron on the planet if I did that, but yet this is what you sound like spewing out all those lies when you are clueless what you are talking about.

 

Take this advice seriously.  When you are clearly inferior by over 800 rating points, ask, don't tell.  You will sound a lot less stupid doing so.  There are 3 types of people out there:

 

1) Those with less knowledge that ask questions.

2) Those with more knowledge that give answers.

3) Morons that think they know everything and spew answers out their butt when they have no clue what they are talking about!

 

I sometimes fall in number 2 (threads on the French Defense or basic, high level questions on openings) and sometimes I fall in number 1 (a thread on Benoni theory), but I do not allow myself to be in group 3, and that is what you have done here!

 

The QGA is a SOUND DEFENSE!

I think everyone else on this forum is laughing at u. Noone cares, haven't u noticed? Noone cares about our little argument

Oh really?  Laughing at me, huh?  That is why post 62 contradicts all of YOUR posts!

 

And whether anyone cares or not is irrelevant!  They know I am right (see post 62) and that you sound like an utter moron.

 

Now they may very well be tired of hearing from us about it, and may find my posts "annoying but true", but the only one that they are "laughing at" is you!  (That is, unless they are equally as stupid as you, only then might those select few be laughing AT me!)

U r clearly about 9 years old. Insulting people doesn't help anyone or help YOU prove your point. And, white is better in QGA. There is something called an analysis bar which clearly says that WHITE IS BETTER

 

I am a lot older than 9 you dimrod!  More than 5 times that!

 

Oh, that's right.  That much math is too complicated for you.

 

Also, if you are going based on what some weak computer like a 1 CPU Stockfish 10 says here on chess.com after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4, you're an idiot!

 

1) Computers, without an added opening book (there is no opening book on the chess.com bot), are unable to properly assess openings.  I guess the King's Indian Defense must be outright refuted based on your weak source of assessing openings!

2) EVERY response to 1.d4 will be SLIGHTLY better for White as White goes first!  The numbers on a computer are not gospel.  Even in a middlegame.  If a computer says 24.Rd1 is +0.42 and 24.Rc1 is +0.39, the first move is not necessarily better.  On a different day, it might say the first is +0.41 and the second is +0.46.  Now if it says 24.Rd1 is +0.43 and 24.Rc1 is -4.79 (Hangs to a Black Bishop on h6), this type of difference you can surely believe Rd1 is better than Rc1.

3) Numerical assessments between -1.2 and +1.2 mean nothing in the opening with no opening book built in.  You can take a computer with no opening book software built in (chessbase and Fritz do not come with opening books, they are separate), put it against itself, start with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O and it will say +1 at move 6, but by move 20, it is something like +0.4.  What happened to White's advantage if only best moves are played?  If it really is +1 at move 6, and the best move is played by both side every time for 10 straight moves, then it should be +1 at move 16.  If it is not, I guess the computer's +1 assessment was wrong, proving my point that computer's assessments are both wrong in the opening and not to be taken as gospel!

U r a very childish 45 year old. I am not going to answer u anymore

 

LOL!  You just can't accept the blunt truth and so you walk away with your tail between your legs!

 

You got outsmarted by a 46-year old geezer!

I wont give u the attention u want. Goodbye

 

You said you weren't going to respond and yet you did!

 

So are you a liar?  Or just dumb?

Simon_ESIEE

This topic has gone way too far off the charts. Just play what you want, but remind yourself that even though with perfect play a slav defense would be preferable over a QGA, your opponent can perfom badly-- YOU can too perform badly and blunder, positionnally and/or materially. The better you get and the better prepared your opponents will be, and at the time they are prepared to the utmost comes the real dilemna : would you rather draw against a slav defense or a spanish game (white's perspective here).

MyNameIsNotBuddy

Honestly guys, you just play well in either, and you can win no matter whether you play QGA, QGD, or Slav Defense. The real question here is not whether QGA is a good opening for black, the real question is if you are a good player and can play well in QGA. It's simply a matter of preference.

ponz111

There are probably reasons the super grandmasters don't seem to play it?

BestSell

Super GMs still play it. Though it's certainly less fashionable, as 1...Nf6 is by far the more flexible response to 1.d4.

This QGA game was played a few months ago. I found it quite interesting.

Black refrained from playing the standard ...c5 push, allowed White an unchallenged classical center, and treated the resulting position more like a Caro-Kann.

CastawayWill
MyNameIsNotBuddy wrote:
theendgame3 wrote:
CastawayWill wrote:

Its an ok defense, you can survive the entire game up a pawn which is useful in endgame, yes guys Queens Gambit is a true gambit theres always ways to hold onto the pawn its just not the best move

Roughly translates to "don't keep the pawn and develop your pieces instead"

Yeah, trying to keep the pawn will lead to trouble.

That's what I was saying. It isn't the best move to hold onto the pawn

CastawayWill

which makes it similar to other true gambits

CastawayWill

sacrificing something for position

ShamusMcFlannigan

CastawayWill wrote:

which makes it similar to other true gambits

 

ShamusMcFlannigan
Optimissed wrote:

Oh but Q a4+ is terrible for white. It isn't how to win.

For sure, that was for the comment above about the QG being a real gambit.  

ThrillerFan
ponz111 wrote:

There are probably reasons the super grandmasters don't seem to play it?

 

If the super grandmasters do not play it, what are Kasparov and Anand?  Chumps?

 

They both played the QGA - and for Anand, he played it fairly regularly thru the 90s!

PerpetuallyPinned
BestSell wrote:

Super GMs still play it. Though it's certainly less fashionable, as 1...Nf6 is by far the more flexible response to 1.d4.

This QGA game was played a few months ago. I found it quite interesting.

Black refrained from playing the standard ...c5 push, allowed White an unchallenged classical center, and treated the resulting position more like a Caro-Kann.

I like the ideas/lines that are close to this.

9.e5 was something I hadn't seen, would 10.Be2 be another option?

12.g4 maybe the start downhill?

The move choice at 15... escapes me how well it works out: