Queen's Gambit Declined - Black Avoids 3...Nf6

Black Avoids 3...Nf6

After 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 (other third moves are also possible: 3 cxd5 may be played to lead to the Exchange line, 3 Nf3 keeps options open, and 3 g3 will transpose to the Catalan), Black's main move is 3...Nf6, though he has other options as well:

• 3...c6 now the Semi-Slav Defense may be reached via 4 Nf3 Nf6, though 4 e4 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 (6 Nc3 c5 gives little) 6...Qxd4 7 Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8 Be2 leads to a sharp struggle, and 4 Nf3 dxc4 is the Noteboom Variation, also sometimes known as the Abrahams Variation, after the English master, Gerald Abrahams.

• If Black is willing to accept an isolated d-pawn he can play 3...c5. This leads to a variation of the QGD called the Tarrasch Defense.

• 3...Be7, the Alatortsev Variation. This usually transposes to positions arising from 3...Nf6, and has the advantage, from Black's standpoint, of avoiding the insidious pressure of the main lines in the Exchange Variation arising after 3...Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 with an annoying pin. White will now usually play 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 c6 6 e3, when 6...Bf5 7 g4 became a topical line after its adoption by Mikhail Botvinnik in his 1963 title match with Tigran Petrosian.

• 3...Bb4?! confusing a Nimzo–Indian with a Queen’s Gambit (also known as the Berg defense), and at this point an inaccuracy. White has at least two good continuations: 4 Qa4+ Nc6 5 Nf3 where Black is forced to block the c-pawn with the knight, and 4 a3 Bxc3+ 5 bxc3 and White has the bishop pair almost for free (on the average worth half a pawn), since cxd5 is unstoppable and there will be no doubled pawns as a counterbalance.