Question on the queens gambit declined

Hi everyone! I was working on my repertorie the other day and i noticed something. When playing black against d4 i play the queens gambit declined but i dont know ANY lines. I just always play the same set up against ALL of white's set ups and i was wondering is this okay? Are there some white set ups that i need to be familiar with where i should develop differently. and from this set up that i play what are some common plans/strategies? Im really lacking in the strategy and ideas part of the queens gambit declined.

Here is the set up that i always do as black no matter what formation white takes

Another thing id like to slip in here. The ONLYYYY reason i sometimes contemplate dropping this opening is because i believe its drawish and not a fighting opening. There isnt that much to play for. White is usually the one with the ideas while black just trys to exchange and dumb down the position. 

Diagram 1: I see nothing wrong with it. You could also play b6 and Bb7 before c5 which is a pretty typical semi slav thing.

Diagram 2: idk about c5, it gives you an IQP, but it may be theoretically ok.

Diagram 3: i'd play c5 or maybe b6 Bb7 first.

Also you can fight for a win from any opening. I play some of the most notoriously drawish lines and I have a my fair share of decisive games, Id guess probably 60% OTB are decisive. (I play exchange kid, slav and QGD,symmetrical english, berlin ruy and QGA)

In the QGD, when playing as black you need to look at how is your light square bishop doing, it seems to me that in your setup it is really not doing well.

In general I am not massively familiar with the lines where black plays Nbd7 early on but I am not convinced of the early move c6. You mention the move c5, a good thematic break in this opening. Why spend two moves on c6-c5 when there are some variations that allow you to play c5 straight away. In some situations you do play c6 later but that is when white has made some commital e.g. Rc1

If you go c6 too early then white won't waste time with Rc1 and could later on just go straight away Rad1. I think it would be better to delay this move and castle beforehand, 

A final small matter is the move h6. As a rule of thumb you don't need to play h6 if you have two pieces willing to guard h7, here both the Knight on f6 and on d7 can guard the h7 pawn so it isnt a necessary move

The setup you use is ok just not optimal and it seems to take more moves than is necessary

he's really just transposing to a sideline semi slav. c6 is fine, it gives him the option to break c5 or e5 depending what his opponent does. It also makes his position super solid, giving him time to fully prepare before he breaks with either.

I just don't think the early c6 is the best because black just gets this nothing position that is slower than the optimal move order. For example game 1 white didn't play his best either but it should lead to a game like this.

I feel white is much better here.

but in this openign it is not realy necesary to play re8 

Re8 is an ok move in this opening, it could allow our bishop to come to f8 if it wants to, and it adds support to the e pawn if we ever wanted to play a move like e5.

You gave white an extra move, in your diagram whites last wouldve been Bh4, now its blacks turn.

white has an advantage, but I do not think it is much more than what white gets in normal QGD lines. I think there is definately more optimal move ordersfor black though.

i think c6 is definetly a waste of time if you play c5 anyway.

it doesnt make it super solid, its just a waste of time. there was nothing threatened and you didnt gain any extra solidness in my opinion.

definetly if you plan on pushing c5 dont play c6

also im not an expert but i believe c6 is also a mistake when yor opponent plays nc3 when the pawn is still on c2...

your opponent is playing a bit more passive, no need to get defensive.

by the way is a chessteenager a teenager that plays chess, or a teenager in realms of chess??

my english is not that good.

The diagram says Black to move so I'm not really sure what you mean.

I feel like white has earned a lot more than he would normally get in a typical line where white has commited to the move Rc1 and then black goes c6

Not false.

Usually Black wants to push ...e5, not ...c5, to free his light-squared bishop.

You've got some move order issues, but otherwise you're ok.

If White exchanges on d5 early, like in your second diagram, you might want to consider 5...c6 before the ...Be7 move.  Allows for the most flexibility, and actually threatens to develop the Light-Squared Bishop, typically Black's worst piece in the QGD.  For example, 6.e3 Bf5.

In your first diagram, 6...c6 is in some ways an error.  You should Castle on move 6 and find out what White does on move 7.  White has 2 critical moves:

7.Rc1, the "Main Line", should be answered then by 7...c6, resolving problems with the c-file, clearly White's file of attack in this line.

7.Qc2, here, 7...c6 is NOT to be recommended.  It's too slow.  White's idea in this line is to attack the King.  White has 2 possibilities.  One is to play 8.Rd1, with an attack down the middle, and reversing the roles of the Queen and Rook compared to 7.Rc1.  The other is to Castle Queenside and storm the Kingside pawns.  What this also does, by keeping the Rook on h1, is discourages ...h6 by Black as White will likely answer with h4, which is very strong.  If Black takes on g5, White takes back and the Knight is toast as if he moves, Qh7 is mate, and there are tactical reasons that he can't go to e4.  In order to give White the most problems, especially if he tries to castle queenside and storm the Kingside pawns, is to play 7...c5!, playing agressively on the Queenside.

It's that 7th move of White's in the main line that basically tells it all and determines what Black should do with that c-pawn, and so therefore, leave that c-pawn at home until White has made the decision, whereas if he exchanges early on with 4.cxd5 exd5, then develop the c-pawn to c6 immediately after that.

Hope this helps.

Excellently put, this was my problem with the early c6 move by black but I don't think I could have explained it this well. 

my words were its a mistake if you play c5 anyway.

YOu say im wrong when he doesnt play c5.

that is just thick like in the video, man you really must be winning every argument

With 5...c6 even white gets flexibility because I can choose play Qc2 and normally transposing to the 5...Be7 lines, or I can do this:

i think that black is ok after 9.. gxf6, with the Nd7-b6-c8-d6 plan. :P
and 6 Qc2 Na6 is quite interesting...

overall that was a great post by thrillerfan. :D

yes it's a pretty drawish position and black should be ok...but he's bound to passivity for the rest of the game and I don't think many players would like to defend for the rest of the game.

what is 6.Qc2 Na6 doing?

I can even play 7.a3 because this move would be useful to support b4, standard plan of the minority attack.

one idea is to play nb4 forcing the q out of the b1-h7 diagonal, the other is to play Nc7, introducing the possibility of, like, the Nc7-e6-g7-Bf5-trades plan. so if white plays a3 the knight goes to c7 :P

not to say that white doesn't have an advantage, just that it's interesting.