Nikolaos Ntirlis provides a top-class repertoire for Black after 1.d4 d5 with the Queen’s Gambit Declined. This is truly the Rolls Royce of chess openings, having been played with both colours by most World Champions and world-class players for more than a century.

As a lover of chess history, Ntirlis has distilled the best ideas from the games of legendary players such as Rubinstein, Capablanca and Alekhine, and updated them using the latest analytical tools that modern technology has to offer.

In addition to the classical QGD, Ntirlis offers a complete repertoire against the Catalan, London System, Torre and all other significant alternatives from move 2 onwards. Every chapter begins with a discussion of typical plans, pawn structures and other relevant themes. This book also includes two bonus chapters covering 1.c4 and 1.Nf3, providing a starter repertoire for QGD players against both moves.

Nikolaos Ntirlis is an opening expert, and an adviser to numerous GMs.

Praise for the author’s previous work:

Playing 1.e4 e5: “Thorough, high-quality and surprisingly easy to read.” GM David Smerdon

“I thought I knew a fair amount about the Tarrasch, but after reading this book, I was amazed/aghast at how much I didn’t know!” GM Matthew Sadler, New in Chess

This book presents a complete guide for Black after 1.d4 d5, the backbone of which is the
Queen’s Gambit Declined (henceforth abbreviated to QGD), which arises after 2.c4 e6. It has been more than a year since Playing 1.e4 e5 – A Classical Repertoire hit the market, so the time has come to complete the picture with Playing 1.d4 d5. Although the previous work and the current one share a lot of similarities (the title and the author are two obvious ones!), in many ways they are completely different books. The Spanish, the Italian, the Scotch and other 1.e4 e5 lines are generally rather concrete in nature, making it hard to pick out common characteristics and play the resulting positions following a strategic masterplan. The openings stemming from 1.d4 d5 are of a completely different nature. No matter which major defence you choose, you tend to come across the same pawn structures and strategic patterns again and again. An opening book which has the ambition to be useful for both club players and more experienced ones up to GM level (something that Playing 1.e4 e5 accomplished, of which I am proud) cannot be blind to that fact. You know the pawn structure? You know how to play the opening! This book is structured in an entirely different way from my previous work. Every major set-up has a dedicated introduction, where I present vital information about thematic pawn structures and plans. The challenge here was to present useful, relevant concepts, without crossing too
far into the territory of a specialist middlegame book. My goal was to keep things practical,
by focusing on specific themes which crop up again and again in my chosen repertoire.