Tartakower Defense Opening Theory

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The Queen’s Gambit Declined is the most popular way to fight the attempt by white to give up (gambit) his c4 pawn. It has been played by top masters since the 19th century, and it will never lose popularity due to its solidity, flexibility, and the amount of different options it gives to black. In this video I have covered the Tartakower Defense, one of the most popular variations on the highest levels.

The Tartakower is a very complicated Defense. The main idea behind it (the move b6) is to be able to solve the “bishop issue” common for the QGD by fianchettoing the c8 bishop on b7. Ironically, though, that is very rarely achieved with great success, and white will either make sure black is stuck with a pawn on d5, hindering the bishop, or he will make black place the bishop to e6, making b6 an obsolete move.

But. Black forces white into a position different to what we usually see in the QGD. He accepts the potential weaknesses which could occur, most often hanging pawns on d5 and c5, but in exchange for that he gets active play.

The downside of the Tartakower is that white is the one who chooses the nature of the position. White can basically decide whether he wants a position with a static weakness and a dynamic advantage or vice versa. That means that the opening is not a good choice for players who are inexperienced and unable to adapt to different types of positions. Still, the same reason makes it one of the best choices when it comes to developing your chess skill!

#chess